ORA students at Yale have continued to develop and refine their ideas of leadership this week as they participate in lessons and challenges.

Leadership Lessons

During their classes designed to explore the themes of leadership, ORA students at Yale spent time discussing styles, skills and definitions of leading. The class included exploring 100 different quotes surrounding leadership definitions, which were then used to aid group discussion about each student’s own leadership aspirations.

Having thoroughly discussed what makes a leader, pupils each gave a 1-minute speech detailing their perception of their own style of leadership and their future hopes in evolving their current skills. There was a fascinating range of ideas from every student, and the public speaking side of the lesson gave pupils more confidence in their ideas.

After each speech, feedback was provided by the class on both the presentation skills and the content, sparking interesting discussions between the speaker and their peers. On Friday, students will have the opportunity to present longer, more detailed speeches on leadership and we look forward to hearing what they come up with.

Debating

Gathering in the New Study Library, pupils got loud and argumentative during the Art of Debating class. Led by Alex Hodgkinson, the pupils were first introduced to different styles of debate and how to logically formulate coherent arguments.

The motion was then introduced as ‘This House believes that aliens probably exist’ and the class was divided into two teams to create convincing, out of this world arguments. Armed with keen debating skills, the teams presented their ideas to the class and were met with quick retorts and counterarguments, leading to a fast-paced and intriguing discussion.

Team and Confidence Building Challenge

Students also boarded an iconic yellow school bus this week as they immersed themselves into American culture and headed to some woods near New Haven for a group Challenge.

Enjoying the beautiful weather, pupils participated in a series of team building games, encouraging them to learn how to efficiently work together. With everything from Lego building and puzzle solving to navigational activities and compass reading, students were tested on their abilities to listen to one another and understand the task at hand.

The Challenge was a roaring success as everyone learnt about the importance of teamwork and stepping out of their comfort zones to challenge themselves. Such skills will undoubtedly prove useful in their development as leaders of the future and everyone had an enjoyable afternoon outdoors.

Check back again soon to see what else ORA’s young leaders at Yale will be getting up to.