An Olympic dream dashed. A lifetime of commitment in question. A firm resolve to prevail. This is the compelling story of Sarah Wells, an athlete and keynote speaker who thoroughly engaged twenty young women from the Calgary Girls Charter School (CGCS) at the Horizons Leadership Conference on October 22, 2019 at Henry Wisewood High School.
Compelled by Sarah’s articulation of her world-class personal goal, her failure to meet her goal, and her resilience in the face of that defeat, students from CGCS are exploring the lessons that can be learned when you take risks, ‘dream big’ and sometimes fall short. In an age when possibilities are endless and they are empowered to ‘be anything’, the young women of CGCS are encouraged to be bold, take calculated risks, and build resiliency. In coming to know themselves, they can see ways in which they can ‘be their best’ and make the world a better place at the same time.
As Melinda Gates shares in her book, The Moment of Lift, “If you want to lift up humanity, empower women.” and education is fundamental to that. Building upon the successful ‘Stuff a Bus’ event and a pilot project initiated by the grade seven team last year, the young women of CGCS will engage in service learning, exploring the reality of global connections, social inequities, gender bias and opportunity while undertaking an authentic experiential learning project. Recognizing that their own experiences, resilience and strengths enable them to ‘do good’ they are keen to pay that forward locally, with another Stuff a Bus event later this fall, and globally, supporting the education of girls and women in Afghanistan.
Leadership is about action, not position. Inspired by Sarah Wells, the girls and young women of CGCS are dreaming big and will make ‘making a difference’ a reality in the local and global community. Stay tuned.
