KINGSTON,  Jamaica-The lives of students at the Edith Dalton James High School in Kingston are being transformed through an empowering initiative called the Ambassador Club.

Started by Religious Education and Health and Family Life instructor at the school, Anntana Allen, the club seeks to assist reserved and often overlooked students in becoming more assertive, through professional coaching and personal development.

Since its implementation 12 years ago, the club has produced student leaders, published authors, business and corporate executives, among other influential professionals and community activists.

Allen told JIS News that she started the club to “help those who are quiet, [so] that they would be able to become assertive and be seen in the population of the school”.

“I started doing assertive training with them with the hope that they would become better and their self-esteem would become higher, [so] that they can become the leaders of the future,” she stated.

Allen said the aim of the initiative is to help pupils become exemplary students within the school, by instilling discipline and enforcing good character that would translate into their social and academic lives.

During meetings, students are encouraged to have a voice and to lead different sessions. They are also given opportunities to explore places such as museums, tertiary institutions, galleries, among others.

The club’s impact is observed through the institution’s student leadership Allen said, as students are transformed “from quietness, into being assertive, into being leaders of the school community, into being leaders of Jamaica”.

“Many of the ambassadors became student leaders and [served on] the prefect body… for 12 years we were one of the leading clubs that would channel these students into leadership roles such as student council presidents,” she stated, while pointing out that the current male head of the student leadership body, is also a member of the club.

For his part, Head Boy at the institution, Damaunte Stephens, said the programme has helped him to be an attentive listener, and not to judge others based on their different backgrounds and appearances.

“It helps me to be very rounded schoolwise, extracurricular, and outside of that [too]. It helps me to be bold, so I can communicate with my school community and [others] outside of my school community [and] it helps me to be respectful to myself and show integrity [in and out] of my uniform,” he stated.

He is also encouraging other students to join the club “so that they can be confident in everything that they do, without valuing other people’s [negative] opinions on what they do”.

He noted that this was important “so that they can become creative, and express themselves even more, and open their eyes to [the] different opportunities and perspectives that are out there in the world”.

Meanwhile, third-form student and sub-prefect at the institution, Jaida Moody, also highlighted the club’s impact on her life.

“It helps me to stay more focused, hold my head up high and be bolder and braver. It also pushes me to be a stronger person, to have more knowledge. It helps me to study more and attend my classes and not idle. It helps me to stay focused and work hard,” she stated.

–         JIS