Greeley West Builds Student Voice into a Culture of Belonging
At Greeley West High School, the goal is bigger than a successful football season, a memorable homecoming, a state championship, or a strong performance on stage. The goal is belonging. Amanda Jones-Weis, Greeley West’s assistant principal and activities director, believes every student deserves to know that there is a place for them in their school. More importantly, she is creating opportunities for students to help define what that belonging looks like. Jones-Weis is entering her 18th year in education and brings a unique perspective to that work. She has been a teacher, coach, student council adviser, activities director and administrator. Now, she also brings that perspective to the state level as the newest member of the CHSAA Board of Directors. In each of those roles, she is using her voice to advocate for something she believes is fundamental to the high school experience: activities are not extras. They are opportunities to develop people. And at Greeley West, she is putting that belief into action. Moving From Student Council to Student Voice When Jones-Weis arrived at Greeley West, she knew building culture would take time. She also knew it would take people. “I really spent the last couple years building the bus,” she said, referencing the Jim Collins philosophy of getting the right people in the right places before deciding where the organization needs to go. Once she had those people, the conversations began. But there was a problem. Student council was not a class at Greeley West when Jones-Weis arrived. And while student council students were capable leaders, she recognized that they could not possibly represent every student in the building. “Student council kids are fabulous, fabulous kids,” Jones-Weis said. “But they are not all your kids, and they do not represent all of the voices in your building.” That realization led to a simple but powerful question: What if every part of the school had a seat at the table? Greeley West began inviting representatives from sports teams, clubs, organizations and student-initiated groups to participate in conversations about the school. The effort evolved from listening sessions about assemblies and spirit days into something much larger: conversations about culture, belonging and the issues that affect students. Eventually, the idea became what the school now calls the G-Dub Club – a student leadership group designed to bring together voices from throughout the school. The most important part of its creation may have been what Jones-Weis and her colleagues learned from the students themselves. Initially, some students wanted the group to be selective. They imagined an elite group of high-achieving students. Then adults challenged them. What about the student who participates in only one club? What about the student who isn’t involved in multiple activities? What about the student whose experience of Greeley West looks completely different from theirs? The students began to understand. If the goal was to make Greeley West better for all students, then all students needed a voice. So the school changed its approach. Instead of asking students to prove they belonged, Greeley West invited them in. The school mascot delivered personal invitations to students, essentially telling them: We picked you. Come to the summit. We want to hear from you. Athletics and Activities: Different Arenas, Shared Experiences One of the most powerful aspects of the Greeley West approach is the intentional mixing of students who might not normally interact. Athletes sat with performers. Student leaders sat with club members. Students from different grades and different activities heard one another’s stories. Jones-Weis believes those conversations reveal how much students involved in different activities actually have in common. An athlete may arrive at school at 6 a.m. for practice. A theater student may arrive at the same time for rehearsal. One student may spend hours on the field or court, while another spends hours preparing for a performance, competition or tournament. Their activities may look different, but their commitment is remarkably similar. “When they hear the thespian say, ‘Yeah, dude, I’m here at 6 a.m. I’m grinding at rehearsal till 11 p.m.,’” Jones-Weis said, “They actually have so much more in common than they realize.” That is the power of co-curricular and extracurricular activities. They create different avenues for students to find purpose, connection and identity. Athletics can develop teamwork, perseverance and leadership. Speech and debate can develop communication, confidence and critical thinking. Music and theater can build collaboration and creativity. Student leadership can teach service, responsibility and advocacy. Esports can develop strategy, communication and teamwork. The activities may be different. The outcomes are remarkably similar. We are developing people. That is why the connection between athletics and activities matters so much. When schools treat athletics as one world and activities as another, students can miss opportunities to learn from one another. When schools bring those worlds together, students begin to understand that leadership is not owned by a particular activity, title or playing surface. Leadership belongs everywhere. From Belonging to Leadership Jones-Weis believes the work at Greeley West is ultimately about more than giving students a voice. It is about helping them understand what to do with that voice. The school’s summit began with a goal that sounds simple but carries significant weight: Greeley West should be a place where all students belong. The first accomplishment was getting students to believe that the mission mattered. “The objective we hit is getting students to believe that that is a valid mission,” Jones-Weis said. “Every kid should feel, deserves to feel because they’re human, that this is a place for them.” The next step is turning belief into action. Students will continue meeting monthly. Representatives will help connect the work to individual clubs, teams and organizations. Adults will be brought further into the conversation so they understand the work and can help students carry it forward. Jones-Weis understands that culture cannot be built through one event. The summit was the seed. Now comes the work of nurturing it. A Voice Beyond Greeley West Jones-Weis is not keeping this work inside the walls of Greeley West. As one of the newest members of the CHSAA Board of Directors, she has another opportunity to advocate for the value of activities and the students who participate in them. Her perspective is particularly valuable because she understands athletics and activities from multiple angles. She is a former athlete. She has coached. She has advised leadership students. She is an activities director and administrator. And now she serves at the state level. Her message is not that athletics are less important. It is that they are part of something bigger. “It’s not the only thing,” she said. “We’re talking about character building. We’re talking about growing leaders, and leaders exist in every facet of our building, including the field.” That perspective aligns directly with the mission of CHSAA: Seeking Excellence in Academics, Activities, and Athletics. The mission does not place one above another. It recognizes that students grow through all three. Jones-Weis sees her role on the CHSAA Board as an opportunity to challenge the status quo and widen the lens through which schools view activities. Homecoming matters. Games matter. Prom matters. Traditions matter. But those experiences cannot be the entirety of a school’s culture strategy. The questions should always be: Who has access? Who has a voice? Who feels like they belong? Who is becoming a better leader because of this experience? Those are questions that transcend any individual activity. Creating Multiple Lanes for Students Perhaps Jones-Weis’s most important message is that providing one opportunity for a student is not the same as providing access. “Just to give one kid a lane doesn’t mean access for all,” she said. “We have to create multiple lanes for multiple kids.” That is the essence of inclusive student leadership. A student should not have to fit a predetermined leadership role to be considered a leader. Instead, adults should help students discover how their strengths can contribute. Rather than simply asking, “Who should be our next student body president?” Jones-Weis challenges adults to ask, “What do we need from a student body president, and which students might grow into that role?” It is a subtle but important shift. Instead of finding students to fill roles, schools can create roles that help students grow. That is leadership development. That is student voice. And that is the promise of high school activities. Find Your Believers Jones-Weis does not claim to have a perfect blueprint for other schools. But she does know where the blueprint begins. “Find your believers,” she said. Find the teachers, coaches, advisers, administrators and students who see beyond the status quo. Find the people who see students as individuals rather than as positions on a depth chart, names on a roster or occupants of a leadership title. Then bring them together. Listen. Dream. Build. And let the work become bigger than any one person. “It is not the Amanda Weis show,” she said. “And thank God for that.” That may be the most important lesson of all. Positive school culture cannot depend on one administrator, one activities director, one coach or one student leader. It belongs to everyone. At Greeley West, Jones-Weis is helping students discover that their voices matter. At CHSAA, she now has another platform to amplify that message for schools across Colorado. When athletics, activities, academics and leadership are connected by a common purpose, the result is more than participation. It is belonging. It is character. It is leadership. And ultimately, it is what high school activities are supposed to do: help students become the very best versions of themselves while contributing to something bigger than themselves.
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