Six Upper School Ravens with a passion for leadership and community engagement attended the National Association of Independent School’s Student Civic Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., Feb. 5-7.

The annual summit, a partnership between NAIS and Close Up Foundation, “brings together high school students from across the country to build knowledge, develop strategies and hone leadership skills to make a positive impact. Through engagement with experts and collaborative inquiry into pressing national issues, students … consider their individual and collective responsibilities and agency, identify best practices in community engagement and explore how the voices of other community members might shape their work toward a better future.”

Representing Ravenscroft were Arianna Laughinghouse ’28, Katya Wilfret ’28, Léyana Glaspie ’27, Bella Weeks ’27, Cashier Brooks ’26 and Ethan Axler ’26. Students said they were drawn to the opportunity as a natural way to extend their understanding and impact in a range of initiatives they are committed to at Ravenscroft. 

“What captivated me to attend this conference was being able to network and connect with other students and schools, to develop my understanding about my cohort’s topic and its impact within the school community, and to develop my personal leadership skills and qualities to be able to share with others,” Bella said. “It was motivating to collaborate and see other students using their voices to make an impact.”

The cohort chose to devote their group project to the topic of mental health, working with students from other schools with the same focus to develop an action plan that they could bring back to their school communities.

“Our conversations weren’t just surface-level: we dived into deep discussions about what change we wanted around the future of people’s mental health amidst other world issues,” Cashier noted.  “The program was so inspiring that we plan on [proposing] a change at Ravenscroft! We are working toward a new policy advocating for students’ mental health, especially when they’re going through a crisis.”

Longtime Ravenscroft teacher Lana DuBose, who attended the summit sessions for adult participants, said that the Ravenscroft cohort distinguished themselves as thoughtful leaders and willing collaborators, drawing on the citizen leadership competencies that are the hallmark of Lead From Here. 

“The mission of the Close Up Foundation is to inform, inspire and empower young people to exercise their rights and accept the responsibilities of citizens in a democracy,” she said. “The daily discussions, debriefs and feedback sessions really allowed our students to shine, and they were comfortable participating as a result of participating in Lead From Here advisory lessons and dialogic classroom conversations. Their final project action plan was very well done and was presented with so much confidence and passion.

“As an institution, we are doing some very critical and necessary work with our students with the Lead From Here framework that will provide them with the skills they will need to have a positive impact on our nation and our world,” she added. “This is a conference that we should continue to send our students to and to be a part of.”

The students agreed. 

“This conference will enrich my experience at Ravenscroft because it has opened my eyes to diverse perspectives that people hold. I will also understand the importance of collaborating and networking through future practices,” Arianna concluded. “I would highly recommend students to participate in future NAIS Civic Leadership Conferences, as they can have a profound impact on their personal and professional growth!”