WHY LEAD?: SUPPORTING STUDENT LEADERS IN PLACENTIA-YORBA LINDA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Why Lead?: Supporting Student Leaders in Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Advisor: Dr. Nancy Watkins The purpose of this research project is to understand the trends of adolescents’ leadership pursuit at their schools and in the local community. It is essential to cultivate young leaders so they can be well-rounded citizens of society and some of the most impactful leadership experiences occur within school leadership programs. A case study was conducted on student leadership in Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District (PYLUSD), which serves around 24,000 students. PYLUSD has been recognized as a high-performing school district on a statewide and national level. The purpose of this project was to create a leadership guide that will be free for all PYLUSD students to access online. The guide will focus specifically on how to gain acceptance into application-based programs like Peer Leadership and ASB (Associated Student Body). Since this guide is centered around PYLUSD, the guide will provide a rationale for how providing leadership opportunities to students relates to the district’s core values and mission statement. Qualitative data was collected for this research project. I interviewed two high school teachers and two middle school teachers. I also conducted interviews with four alumni: one is a college freshman and the other three are well established in their respective careers. This data was combined with information from scholarly articles and websites including the official PYLUSD website.