The Ins and Outs of Leadership on Westridge

Verlato, a Westridge alumna from the Class of ’89, started her journey to her current position at Westridge. Although she didn’t hold any formal leadership positions during her time here, Westridge encouraged and developed certain skills necessary for leadership. “I took on more leadership in college, and it’s because of the self-confidence I was able to establish at Westridge and being able to have that sense of ‘We can do anything, we’re girls, it doesn’t matter’ was reinforced,” said Verlato.

 

For her, the all-girls environment at Westridge made her feel more comfortable with the idea of being a leader as a woman. She had previously attended a co-ed school throughout grades nine and ten but switched to Westridge for the rest of high school. “I think when you’re raised in a co-ed environment there’s an underlying bias towards men being the leaders. So girls growing up tend to be conditioned to that, but when I transitioned over to Westridge, all of the sudden there weren’t any men to be the leaders, so the girls had to be the leaders, and you start realizing ‘Oh I can be in that leadership position, she’s in that leadership position, she’s doing that, I could do that too,’” Verlato continued.

 

Westridge helped Verlato develop self-confidence and propelled her to leadership positions in college and eventually to the position of Mayor of Arcadia. Although more and more women like Verlato are taking up leadership positions, women in Congress hold less than 25% of all positions, and a mere 28.9% of state legislators are women according to the Center for American Women and Politics. “I think women tend to get too caught up in how they’d be perceived if they run and lose, so they don’t want to run at all. If we don’t have any female candidates running, we can’t pick a woman. Without those examples, women won’t get enough confidence to do it,” Verlato commented.

 

As an all-girls school, Westridge empowers its students and encourages them to step up and take advantage of leadership positions. Student Voices, theatre, Peer 2 Peer, Student Life, and various clubs are just some of the avenues through which leadership opportunities are available. “Last year, almost half of the Upper School student body was engaged in some sort of leadership position,” stated Brittany Coker, Dean of Upper School Student Activities. This year, not much has changed; the primary difference from past years is the presence of the brand new Student Action Council. “It’s very unique; we haven’t had anything like [the Student Action Council] before.”

 

Students seeking leadership opportunities most often try electives and student government. For example, Assistant Director and Stage Manager positions are open to students interested in the theater program.  The program also includes an all-student run Black Box Production where students design the sound, lighting, set, and costumes. Peer 2 Peer, an elective designed to teach students empathetic listening and the basics of psychology, encourages students to create a strong community through peer mentorship and support. Town Meeting, run and planned by Student Life, engages the Upper School in a discussion about various topics from mental health to summer vacations.  Clubs and affinities are another way for students to step into leadership roles.