Learning to Lead

What better place to explore learning about civic engagement and leadership than in our nation’s capital?

Five Brooks School students flew to Washington, D.C., earlier this month for a three-day Student Civic Leadership Summit hosted by the National Association of Independent Schools. The class of 2026's Brianna Mungai, Ese Ologbosele, Kiara Rivera Valdez, Urmi Patel and Natalie Menendez spent February 5 through February 7 diving deep with other high school students from across the country to think about how national issues impact local communities, strategize action steps and learn best practices to make lasting change. Overall, the event, organized in partnership with the D.C.-based Close Up Foundation, encouraged students to participate in making a positive impact.

“This conference changed the way I see opportunities to engage in civic affairs and government by showing me that real change requires a collective effort, not just the actions of one person or one group,” said Rivera Valdez after she returned to campus.

The fifth former is thinking of pursuing political science and government study in the future. Calling the new friends that she made and the conversations they had “the most valuable part” of the experience, she vowed to carry the inspiring connections forward in her “journey to engage, collaborate and advocate” for change.

Meeting new people and hearing their voices “allowed us to exchange diverse perspectives… fostering a deeper understanding of democracy in action,” she added. “This is what we need our generation to do.”

Urmi Patel’s favorite activity during the conference was a workshop learning about cooperative and oppositional change. “We analyzed protests during the Civil Rights Movement and the Women's Rights Movement,” she explained. “Seeing how these strategies were used in real life was impactful and showed us that change can be made in our communities.” 

History Teacher and Admission Counselor Laila McCain (on right) joined Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Terri Ofori (on left) in accompanying the students to the conference. She departed Washington, D.C. hopeful about all the ways the group plans to make their mark.

“Seeing students actively coming up with a policy that they can bring back to Brooks to enhance our community was a highlight for me,” she said. “They were given the skills to learn how to deliberate and negotiate to make effective change. I hope that they … set meetings to advocate for the policy they wrote.”

Amid an avalanche of recent executive orders from the White House, McCain shared more about her hopes for engagement at Brooks during a Chapel talk on February 10.

Watch McCain’s Chapel talk here.

“When I think about civic engagement, I think a lot about integrity, one of our school pillars that we focused on this year,” she began. “I think about doing the right thing when nobody's watching.”

Urging Brooksians to remain informed and engaged in the world outside of campus, she continued on to say why she thinks “Brooks can do better on delivering on mission and carrying out our values pertaining to civic engagement.”

“At this time, the reassurance that every single person in this community matters and belongs is absolutely principal,” she said. “...The time to lean into our values the most is here.”

Since then, teachers, students and employees have opted to come together to talk about the president’s executive orders and life at Brooks today as part of a series of “Courageous Conversations” that will be ongoing throughout the year.

“One of the most patriotic things that you can do is critique your country to make it better and I believe the same goes for Brooks,” McCain concluded her Chapel speech. “I love this community so much and I want us to do better together. I hope that by reminding us of who we are today, we're able to work together united by our values and guided by our mission to make positive change within our community.”