The Leadership Program

Breaking the Ice
Personal Mastery & The Foundations of Leadership
The freshman seminar in the leadership sequence stresses the discipline of “personal mastery.” It is designed to develop the skills, habits, and thought processes that will enable students to succeed at Suffield and beyond. The Personal Mastery course sets the experiential and conceptual foundation for Suffield’s subsequent leadership seminars. This class meets during an academic period.

Embracing Community
Values, Vision, & Citizenship
The sophomore Foundations of Leadership seminar builds its curriculum from where the freshman Personal Mastery course leaves off. Expanding its curricular focus beyond the basic self-management, public speaking, and collaborative skills stressed in 9th grade, the 10th-grade seminar reinforces these habits of personal mastery while introducing elements of group dynamics, service learning projects, and more. This class meets during an academic period.

The Environment & Self-Advocacy
Preparing for Leadership
The focus in junior year is to reinforce the competencies of personal mastery established in the freshman and sophomore seminars, while focusing more explicitly on developing the students’ leadership capabilities.

Leadership in Action
Engaging as a Leader in the Community
Each Suffield senior is expected to exercise significant leadership responsibilities at school. Class time during this seminar is used primarily to reflect on and improve students’ performance in their leadership roles and responsibilities.

Senior Speaker Series
The senior speaker series is another capstone experience in the Leadership Program and further enhances Suffield’s strong sense of community. As part of the series all seniors deliver a talk to the community during the school’s weekly chapel meeting. Talks highlight how students initially learned of Suffield, how their time here has unfolded, goals for the future, and valuable lessons learned. They serve as powerful motivation and remind us of the profound impact of the Suffield experience.

Senior Seminars
Suffield’s seniors participate in a three-part seminar that serves as a concluding aspect of the school’s Leadership Program. The meetings highlight important topics for graduates as they head on to the next stage in their lives. Led by Head of School Charlie Cahn, Hillary Rockwell Cahn ’88, and CFO Patrick Booth, the seminars focus on Title IX and sexual misconduct, mindfulness, and financial awareness. Goals include understanding Title IX legislation, helping students understand their personal financial footprints, and building strategies to manage stress.