Ridge 360 2016

It's all about Perspective

For the last few weeks, no matter where in IRHS you turn, there are reminders about Ridge 360, the full-school conference happening next Thursday. It’s a collaboration between various student groups to share their knowledge on the subjects of mental health, leadership, and global citizenship.

Maybe you’re not particularly interested in these topics. Maybe you haven’t seen any workshops that jump out at you as exciting. Why should you care about Ridge 360? Well, there’s plenty to be excited about, according to the students who’ve worked so hard on in in the past few weeks.

‘[I’m] really excited for other students to experience the presentations like in  Arthouse,” says Kevin Zhou, the student in charge of the leadership pillar of classes. He says he’s excited about the amazing number of different workshops and “seeing all the options everyone has”.

Another student, Hanna Jandrew, who’s helping lead a workshop called “The Power of Your Voice,” has a similar opinion. “I think I’m most excited about everybody actually getting a chance to take part,” she says. She also mentions that she really hopes the day runs smoothly. Anyone can understand why she’s so concerned about this- she and many other students have been working really hard on this conference. For everyone involved, there are a lot of logistics to work out. Someone has to explain to all the speakers, teachers, and students how the day’s going to go. There are logos to design, staff t-shirts to order, and classes to locate. Student schedules and last-minute issues have to be fixed quickly and effectively. It’s a lot of work, but a lot of students and teachers have been working very hard to make the conference run as efficiently and effectively as possible. “There's so many small details that need to be taken into consideration,” says Taryn Kieller, one of the students in charge of the mental health pillar. “Also, with such a large event we had to have a large team. Coordinating with everyone and making sure we all knew our roles was sometimes a challenge.”

Nyle Arora, who’s helping run the workshop “A Newcomer’s Guide to Getting Involved”, explains the story behind Ridge 360. “Basically, a lot of different student groups were looking to hold a conference, so they kind of united to hold one big conference that is now “Ridge 360”. I was part of two of these student groups, so I joined the committee because I was already interested in what this conference could do for students at IRHS,” he says. “It's a chance for students at our school to gain some valuable education on topics that wouldn't exactly be taught in the classroom.”  Additionally, the feedback from the students and staff about the conference will help IRHS become even better at helping students achieve lifelong success.  Our student voices matter, and this conference is meant to help us speak up intelligently about important issues.

And there will be plenty of opportunities to learn! As Taryn Kieller puts it, “Each workshop offers something different from the next, but I think they are all really valuable.” From a talk from Molly Burke, a famous Me to We speaker, who’s been giving talks since the age of five; to Victoria Glista, a student from WOSS who ran the most famous Harry Potter fan site in Canada and now has her own fashion magazine. There’s plenty to be interested in!

So get ready for a day full of fun and interesting topics.. Like Hanna

Jandrew remarks, ““You will be amazed at what you can learn in just 50 minutes!”