On 28th of November 2009, 16 student leaders, led by our Principal, Mrs Kelvyna Chan and six teachers, gathered at Changi Airport's Terminal 3 to embark on a journey to Florida, United States of America (USA), for ACJC's Leadership Exchange Programme. We were also very honoured to have ACJC’s former Principal, Mr Wan Fook Weng, join us on this inaugural trip.

Leadership Exchange Programme with Stanton College Preparatory School

We spent three days in Stanton College Preparatory School, the oldest high school in Florida and one of the best public schools in the USA, during which we attended lessons and interacted with the student leaders. The student leaders of Stanton could simply be described with 3 words: mature, outspoken and fun! Not only are they able to lead their teams and clubs with much wisdom and foresight, they also showed us the importance of understanding and connecting with our members, as well as what it means to be a servant leader and role model. This was evident when we saw the Senior Class President going from table to table to interact with the different interest groups during his break. Be it the football team or the chess club, he was able to relate to each individual and see things from their perspective, no matter how different they actually were, earning in return much respect from his peers. Truly, the student leaders in Stanton embody and epitomise servant leadership - for to lead, one must first learn to follow. We also visited other educational institutions such as the Paxon School for Advanced Studies, the Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts and the University of North Florida.

Of course, fun was on the itinerary too. We visited the NASA Kennedy Space Centre where we got a literal out-of-the-world experience when we took the space shuttle simulation and relived the lift-off of the Apollo 8. We were also privileged participants of the Disney YES (Youth Education Series) programme on Leadership Excellence and gained much insight about the simple yet powerful management strategies the Walt Disney Company employs which have made it one of the most successful companies in the world. 

The inaugural ACJC leadership exchange was a great success as the 16 of us have made many friends, learnt important lessons and brought back cherished memories.

Written by:
Shawn Lin
President
ACJC Debate and Oratorical Society