The Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) had the privilege of hosting a day-long leadership and mentorship training session at Dandora Secondary School. Over 70 members of the student council from this esteemed Public, Mixed Day Secondary School, situated in Nairobi County, participated in this transformative event.
At the heart of CCL’s leadership and mentorship program for student council members lies the servant-leadership model that emphasizes on ethical decision-making, sense of community building, and holistic character development. Student councils serve as vital links between the school administration, teachers, and students, that contribute to a conducive learning environment within the school community.
The training sessions were interactive and educational, covering topics such as servant leadership, virtue development, and the pivotal role of student leaders in supporting the school management. A notable exercise led by the facilitator was a virtue-reflection session, where participants identified their most and least developed character traits and crafted personalized improvement plans. Emphasizing character development’s importance in enhancing leadership capacity, students were encouraged to cultivate virtues like noble purpose, humility, responsibility, and courage.
Cooperative learning activities engaged students in team tasks, such as defining the roles of School Captain, deputies, prefects, and other leadership positions, aligning them with the school’s vision, mission and core values. Discussions also delved into leadership qualities, role models, and conflict resolution techniques, alongside strategies for emotional regulation.
The training culminated in a circle session where student leaders pledged to apply the virtues they learned as echoed by their testimonials.
“I’ll work on my least developed virtues such as integrity and forgiveness in order to become an effective leader;
“I have learnt to be a good mentor and I will commit myself to mentor other students in my class.”
The training was facilitated by the Centre’s Director Mr. Peter King’ori, together with Concepta Muthoni. In attendance was the school principal, deputy principal among other teachers.