Don’t let this year start down that same old path of poster-making and pep assemblies.

Leave the superficial WHAT of student government behind for a thoughtful, collaborative, community-building set of introduction activities that will have your students answering, “WHY do we want to lead and HOW can we do some great things together?” within a couple of weeks.

Each activity is self-contained, allowing you to customize this high-energy 2- to 4-week unit for your group. Pick the activities that make sense for this year with these kids!

Even better, there are enough activities to last you 2 to 3 years without repeating, in case you have students back-to-back years! Or save a few activities for later in the year when students need a little re-boost or refresher.

Included in this complete unit:

Teacher Resources

• Unit-at-a-Glance sheet to give you a broad overview
• 11 pages of Lesson Plans for each activity, from the daily goal to debriefing questions
• Answer Keys with suggested responses to guide student thinking

5 Types of Activities (23 in all!) – all easily doable in one class period or less

• Introductions build familiarity and trust within the group with 5 icebreakers
• Defining Leadership brainstorm and discuss the meaning of leadership in 4 different ways
• School Knowledge & Climate examine the ins-and-outs of the school’s current state through 4 exercises
• Goal Setting brainstorm and establish agreed-upon wishes and mission statements for the year with 5 methods
• Personal Inventories understand strengths and values using 5 different assessments

Culminating Kindness Project

• An open-ended, student-directed project to foster team building, collaboration, goal setting and planning
• Includes everything to brainstorm, plan, and execute a kindness-spreading act

Additional Resources

• 40-slide fully editable Supplemental Slideshow with student directions
• Both PDF & Google Slides versions of student sheets

This resource is 76 PDF pages, plus Google files and slides.

What grades is this intended for?
This should work for either middle or high school students. I have used it with 9th through 12th graders, but these activities don’t require any high school-specific skills. Please read the description and examine the preview file closely to determine if it is appropriate for your students.

What supports are included? Can I modify this?
Detailed teacher directions and editable Google file versions of student materials are included so you can modify activities to suit your group’s needs and setting. 

What are the terms of use for this resource?

This resource, including all ancillary files, may be used as needed for regular, non-commercial single-classroom use between a teacher and their students. 

This includes printing copies and sharing digital files with students through a secure platform, like Google Classroom or Canvas, email, or a classroom-only shared drive.

The using and sharing of any part of this resource in any manner outside the above-mentioned capacity is strictly prohibited. Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to,

• posting files on the open internet or in a Facebook group
• emailing files to or sharing print copies with others (without purchasing additional licenses)
• uploading or storing files in a shared cloud drive accessible by anyone other than students
• including any part, or any derivative work, within any commercial endeavor like curriculum development, professional training, or for-profit teaching like Outschool, or selling this resource as your own in either print or digital formats

Doing so violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), copyright law, and these terms.

By downloading this resource from Let’s Cultivate Greatness, the original user has been granted one license for a single teacher (or number of teachers matching the number of licenses purchased) and their students at any one time. 

Let’s Cultivate Greatness retains the full copyright of this resource.

This, along with the Leadership Activities and Skills Bundle, saved me when I found out about a new leadership class I would be teaching! I had only a few weeks to prepare. The resource was easy to use, well-designed, and engaging. Thank you! - Jill

This is a GREAT resource for a Leadership or Student Council class. My students LOVED it!! It made them think about themselves and the school in ways they never had before. We were able to set some pretty lofty, but achievable goals for this year with the material in this assignment. Prompted great discussion that was DEEP. - fellow TPT seller

I loved this resource! It has so many different activities and they are organized very nicely. It is something that I can use in many different scenarios in the classroom and in other organizations I'm involved in.  - Robin

I have been struggling with getting my student council to step up and lead. This resource was truly helpful and inspirational to me. Now I feel like I have the ability and the tools to help them. - Teresa