Traditionally, leadership has been left to upperclassmen, but Berkeley High School offers freshmen the opportunity to step in and fill their own leadership roles. Many freshmen decide to join leadership because of a desire to make a meaningful impact in their new school environment. With the recent release of Associated Student Body applications on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, freshmen are offered a chance to continue their leadership journey after a first semester in high school leadership.
Numerous freshmen have their sights set on leaving an impact and contributing to change at BHS.
“Our school needs to have more group events between the grades. I feel like we’re very separated. There’s very much a very strong seniority construct,” said Laurel McGatlin-Golier, a freshman in leadership, “I feel like a lot of people would really benefit from getting to know those who are older than them.”
McGatlin-Golier aims to help bridge the gap within grade levels at BHS. According to McGatlin-Golier, this is one of the many objectives the freshman leadership team plans to address.
Even with ambitious goals, achieving them can often prove to be more difficult than anticipated. As freshmen, the ninth grade leadership team is not always taken seriously, according to Dahlia Merlin, a BHS freshman in leadership.
“Since we’re younger than everyone, I feel like we are respected less, but that just makes us want to prove them wrong and to make more change for the people at our school,” Merlin said.
As values evolve with each grade and class, freshmen introduce fresh perspectives and insights on how to foster a more inclusive and improved school environment. Freshmen bring innovative ideas and hope to enhance and build a safe atmosphere for all students, according to Merlin.
“It’s easier for freshmen to see what really needs to be done instead of someone who’s been here for years and has just been used to everything,” Merlin said.
Freshman leadership’s willingness to question current systems and rules as well as advocate for change can be a powerful tool in building a sense of community at BHS. Their efforts ensure that school culture remains open and inclusive according to Merlin.
Already, freshmen have brought some of their concepts to a reality. The freshman leadership team set up a hot chocolate bar on the last week before winter break.
“During finals week, we set up a place where all freshmen could come, no matter who they were, to study, enjoy time with their friends, de-stress, and overall have a great last week of school experience,” McGatlin-Golier said.
Making this space available fostered a sense of belonging among the freshman students and created an environment where students were able to rejuvenate after finals in a safe atmosphere, according to Merlin.
“We felt like it was a really safe space to study, just think about your finals, have fun with your friends, and de-stress from whatever you had had in the day,” Merlin said.
The freshman leadership team also implemented a candy gram fund raiser for future projects. Through selling the candy grams the leadership team was able to raise a large sum of money.
“We made more money from candy grams than they did last year,” BHS freshman, Sarah Khan-Akselrod said, “We raised a decent amount of money where we had money left over for ninth grade.”
Leadership roles offer freshmen an opportunity for personal growth and development. Being on the leadership team builds students’ problem solving and collaboration skills according to Khan-Akselrod. It also provides students with a sense of responsibility and engagement within BHS.
“I’ve gained the skill of adaptability. Learning to work with 12 people in a student council for your grade, instead of just one or two, really made it so you had to hear each person’s point of view. You had to listen to many different inputs, and try to make a situation that benefits everybody,” McGatlin-Golier said, as she reflected on the previous semester in leadership.
Khan-Akselrod encourages all freshmen to apply for leadership, viewing it as an invaluable opportunity.
“If you do want to do leadership, don’t be hesitant about it, because it’s not like a scary experience,” Khan-Akselrod said, “It’s just like something you’ll get better at with practice and the more you do different leadership positions, the better you’ll become at being a leader.”