Katie Rhodes Freshman Representative 10-2-20 Position Assessment: Thus far we have completed t-shirt designing, selling, and the pick up process, as well as we are actively working on Fall Fest and all of it’s planning, we have the group aspect complete and we are currently working on the Freshmen portion of it all. Professional Development: I have noticed with there being so many of us, that there can be an occasional issue due to lack of communication, interpretation, and perception, this has really made me think how I come across and how my teammates take in what i’m saying. I have really had to pick and choose my battles when wanting to argue an opinion. I tell myself that I’m one of nine, we are all equal, not everything is going to be perfect, and that’s okay. I think being aware of how you communicate and how it sounds is very important. This will be very helpful in any job I wish to pursue because communication is key :). Another skill I have developed thus far is patience. It truly is a virtue. With teachers moving at the pace of the class, I have had to learn to wait and not get frustrated. Sometimes I get so upset at the fact that very few kids pay attention, they are reluctant to turn on their microphones, and just the lack of effort. I feel terrible for the teachers because they have to deal with this 10x worse than I do. I have to continue to tell myself to be patient, calm down, and everything will fall into place. Concerns/Changes: The only thing I would say we could change as the Freshman is everyone remembering that we are all equal, we all have the same job, and we all get to do 1/9 of the work. But other than that, I think we are doing pretty good. Positive Comment: I noticed that we are very good at dealing with our little disagreements. We normally just talk it out and make sure that everyone knows that we all love each other and we all mean no harm. It always ends up in a “I hope I didn’t come across this way text and and I’m sorry I love you guys”. :) This is very important when having a group of people to work with, because If you can’t talk out your problems, your group will never get along and nothing will get done. My Impact: It’s very hard to impact a campus that we haven’t been to yet, but us freshman have sure tried. We try to make our fellow classmates feel as noticed as possible. It’s really hard to feel included and apart of a school that you don’t even feel like you go to. Being a Freshman is hard enough let alone in these circumstances. So we have tried very hard to make everything feel as personal as possible. Just a reminder that we are thinking of them and that we miss them does the trick. We are hoping that this could put a smile on at least one persons face, and we are always looking for different ways to reach out!
Katie Rhodes Freshman Representative 12-2-20 Positon Assessment- So far we have completed many exciting things previous to school going back. Although we’ve been at home, I didn’t have any expectations of anything at school, so anything we planned was more fun than not doing anything. I’d say our biggest activity thus far has been Fall Fest. I didn’t know how Fall Fest went in previous years, but for being at home I think this one went pretty well. We had a lot of participation as a freshmen class and I didn’t hear too many negative comments. One of our more meaningful activities was the holiday cards for the soldiers. We each got to write 5+ heartfelt letters to someone that may not get to be with their family this year. As Freshmen, we got to go to a leadership conference two weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. We learned about how to deal with ourselves and our minds under all this stress. That was a great experience and I think we all had a good time. We started Snapraise about a month back and we all have been doing so good. I think we have raised well over $8,000, so great job everyone. Our two most recent activities were the gratitude video and Dude be Nice. For the gratitude video, I was actually extremely nervous to pour out all my emotions to my mom, if you know me well, you would know that this kind of stuff makes me uncomfortable and I’d rather not talk about how I feel. It was very good for me to do that though, my mom said after “you really feel that way” because I had never told her those things. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and I appreciated it. Now, to Dude be Nice. I don’t know if they always go like this, but my favorite part was hearing everyone’s gift suggestions for Mr. Perez. They were so bazaar and random, but it was really funny to listen to. I think everyone was glad that something was done even if it wasn’t like it always is. He was a very well-deserving DUDE and congrats to him. Professional Development- Patience. I have had to be so patient and have had to learn to bite my tongue. When working in a group of 9 people it’s hard to make everyone happy. We all are eager to share our ideas and opinions but sometimes that leads to chaos. I and many other of my teammates have had to bite our tongues when it wasn’t easy. Keeping your mouth shut is so hard, and why add unnecessary issues to the conflict. Patience is so important and letting everyone talk goes with that. Everyone in the group of reps has learned to be patient with one another and that we can always talk it out. We had a little chitchat about a month ago about how we aren’t always going to agree but we are a team/ family and we have to work together. We haven’t had any big issues since we talked about respecting each other. Concerns/Changes- I still feel like we need to work more as a team. It is hard because there are so many of us but we need to all be one group. I think we have assumed positions within the group and that’s great when someone needs to take charge, but we all need to step back sometimes. Positive Comment- There is not one person I don’t like or I don’t get along with within the group of freshies. I genuinely love them all and I hope they know that. I think they are all brilliant and they have so much to bring to this leadership table. They are all such good people and we all get along. We are so good at talking to each other about what’s going on and our communication has gotten so much better. My Impact- My impact has to hopefully just make people laugh and to make their day better. Making people laugh and smile is what I’m good at and I hope I’m doing that. I know for me personally, that if someone says something funny or smiles at me when I’m having a bad day it kind of boosts my morale. I hope to continue to do that and make people feel good and excited.
Katie Rhodes 3-18-21
Position Assessment- Since coming back to school, we have completed many exciting tasks and activities. We have completed Match-O-Matics, in which we made a total profit of roughly $42. Since then, we have made clovers for each of the freshmen, with their names and a message of encouragement. We have also been able to make Senior Spotlight posts and flyers for the seniors here at RHS that have participated in athletics. Each of us wrote a speech regarding any topic. We shared it with the class to improve our public speaking. Another activity I participated in was Snap Raise, in which our program raised over $8,000. In preparation for mock interviews, we have created our resume and cover letter. We were given the opportunity to write an article that will be considered to be published in the June edition of the Leadership Magazine. Previously, we have worked on the 2020-2021 school year scrapbook. We were given a 2-page spread to share our favorite leadership memories. We had our election for the 2021-2022 school year. We gave our speech, campaigned, and voted. Lastly, we are in the process of completing the preparation for Homecoming. We have about two weeks to get ready and it is super exciting because we haven’t had an in-person event yet. Professional Development- These last couple of months of Leadership have been very impactful. From the public speaking to resume, I feel ready to tackle the work-world already. I have learned the art of public speaking and the importance of being able to talk in front of peers. Regarding the resume and cover letter, these are skills that I will not only need for a future career, but they are good skills to obtain. When we were campaigning for the 2021-2022 school year, I had to stay confident in myself and keep hanging my posters up and try to stay unscathed. Lastly, we are currently working on Homecoming and teamwork is a skill that has been worked on a lot lately. Concerns/Changes-I say the only change that needs to be made is communication. Since there are so many of us, I’ve found that it is difficult for everyone to be on the same page. We could work on having more group meetings and having fewer side conversations. I think If all of our ideas were shared with everyone, we would have less confusion and more productivity. Positive Comment- Lately, we have been speaking up more and using our voices. This is good because after so long, we are finally feeling comfortable with one another, enough to speak up. Since we have been sharing our opinions more, it has led to more ideas and fewer hiccups. My Impact- I hope that my fellow classmates see me as a tool to brighten up their day. I wish to make people smile and to help start discussions. Sometimes it can be difficult to get the conversation going, but I have the gift of facilitating. I hope to start conversations and spark ideas. Special Committee's-I am helping Payton with the dance choreography, and I'm apart of the stage decoration committee.