Bobcat Stories

Bosque School is offering an exciting new elective this year — Service Leadership. This course, open to 10th-12th grade students, is part of the school's WELLBEING Department and focuses on the concepts of service, volunteering, and ethical community engagement. "Service Leadership explores positionality, branches of service work, and ethical volunteering,” explained Ms. Pedrick.

Throughout the semester, students learn about local organizations and the systemic issues they are working to address. They've already connected with groups like Tres Hermanas Farm, which supports refugee and asylum-seeking families with farming opportunities, and Cuidando Los Niños, an early childhood education center for unhoused children. "We get to know those groups, mostly by having guest speakers, and then we follow up by going on-site to a few places to volunteer," Ms. Pedrick shared. 

The Service Leadership course gives Bosque School students a unique opportunity to move beyond the classroom, exposing them to service opportunities around our community. By connecting students to organizations addressing important local issues, the program is helping cultivate the next generation of engaged citizens and community leaders. Beyond just learning, students are also taking action. Each student must complete a 6-hour volunteer project with a nonprofit of their choice by the end of the semester. This hands-on experience allows them to directly contribute to the community.

Students in the Service Leadership course recently had the opportunity to support CiQloVía, a global event that temporarily closes streets to create a safe space for walking, running, and playing. Rather than simply volunteering at the event, a few students, for example, took on a data collection role, tracking how attendees arrived — whether by foot, bus, car, or bicycle. This allowed them to learn about transportation patterns that can inform future event planning and community development efforts. By expanding the definition of service to include activities like data collection and analysis and by inviting speakers from various professional backgrounds, this program is empowering students to take on meaningful leadership roles that create positive change in their local community.