Marion High School 2021 Senior, Oghosasse Osadiaye, takes the lead as the newest member of the Student Leadership Services (SLS) state-level Student Advisory Board (SAB). Ogho along with five other members of the 2020-21 SAB will represent Michigan youth-led prevention and safety programs, like our Marion SLS chapter, from the 300 high school and middle school chapters which have 20,000 members.
Ogho had to submit a video application to be considered for membership to the SAB and participate in an interview via Zoom. She is obligated to participate in a set of regularly occurring mix of in-person and Zoom meetings. Along with her SAB comrades, she will have to prepare a speech and make presentations. Her SAB term of service runs from now until spring 2021. When asked why she wanted to be a member of SAB she said:
“I want to be a part of something bigger. I want to help students realize that drugs aren’t the way to go. I also want them to be safe and to spread awareness. I have always enjoyed helping people. I’ll be excited to do something bigger than me and really do something good for our school!”
Leadership skill building, peer education, and healthy choices are the focus of the board. The SAB is comprised of caring student leaders who take a stand against things like teen alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use. Ogho and her fellow SAB members will be trained by SLS to teach prevention skills, driving safety, peer leadership, life skills, and how to engage in community service among their peers and younger students.
This SAB is also tasked with planning and hosting the annual High School SLS State Leadership conference each fall, but under the current restrictions of the covid-19 pandemic, they will not have a traditional conference. In lieu of the conference the SAB is planning a #SLSTOGETHERWECAN Blended Learning Institute that will focus on five “hot spot” topics identified by members of the SAB.
This will be a hybrid institute that will offer opportunities for Michigan students to participate online and/or in-person. Student participants will learn about the “hot spot” topics, work with other students across Michigan, listen to expert speaker presentations, enjoy some entertainment, and develop a project and/or message to help their peers understand the importance of each topic. Those topics are: Vaping/Marijuana; Distracted Driving; Alcohol; Healthy Relationships (with focus of mental health); Bullying (with focus of inclusiveness). The institute format will include: four online workshops, two in-person workshops that will include student presenters, SLS presenters, and expert speakers on topic, with a final in-person celebration where students present their project that they developed based on the knowledge they received from the institute. In-person workshops will be regionally located. Students will also receive a 23-minute one-on-one consultation with SLS Program Director, Dawn Flood, regarding their project planning.
You can check out Ogho and her fellow SAB members or get more information about Student Leadership Services and the SAB by going to the slstoday.org website or following Student Leadership Services on Facebook. Congratulations, Oghosasse, on this achievement!