Presentations during the honor council conference

9th and 10th Graders Learn Valuable Skills During Honor Council Conference

Student members of the Upper School’s Honor Council planned and hosted the 2nd Annual Skills Conference on September 16. The Conference was developed for 9th and 10th grade students to help them strengthen study habits and time management skills for success in balancing rigorous academics, athletics, and activities.

“The Honor Council Skills Conference was really about giving students more confidence so that they can trust in themselves to succeed when academic work is very challenging,” said Honor Council Co-Head, Annie Cohen ’17. “We as the Honor Council are here to help people uphold their integrity, and we believe that this is not just achieved academically, but we also want students to know how to juggle their social and athletic lives on top of a rigorous course load. Together, we were trying to help students build a skill set that they can use throughout life to face challenges and not have to result in sacrificing their integrity in any way.”

Rohit Chouhan ’17, Honor Council Co-Head, added, “We started the Honor Council Skills Conference because we wanted to help the students prepare for future challenges by educating them about necessary skills and information they will need in the near future. Learning from last year, we decided the Skills Seminar applied most to the freshmen and sophomores who still need to develop the necessary skills to efficiently tackle a busy homework schedule and challenging classes. With these skills, we hope that the students will make better decisions about their school work to avoid any honor violations.”

Upper School students partnered with faculty members to develop and lead mini workshops for their peers on a variety of topics, including: nutrition, note-taking, creating study guides, how to be a successful student-athlete, mindfulness, improving your memory, balancing social life and academic life, and more.