Claire Zhang

Student Government Association (SGA) members speak during the opening ceremony, introducing the activities for the day. “I enjoyed how the kids got to see [Jefferson] and how they were asking questions and being curious,” freshman SGA member Asli Ulku said.

Jefferson’s Student Government Association (SGA) hosted the Middle School Leadership Conference (MSLC) on March 15th. A total of 144 middle schoolers came from the five counties that Jefferson serves (Fairfax, Falls Church, Prince William, Loudon and Arlington).

“Students [from all over these counties] come to Jefferson for a day of STEM and leadership activities,” junior organizer Caroline Li said.

The SGA put in countless hours of work and rigorous preparation to make MSLC a success. This included reaching out to middle schools in the various counties to coordinate the event.

“We [had] to email all [of] the principals [at the middle schools] because the middle schools are the ones who are [selecting] and sending the students, so we [needed] to figure out who’s sending who,” Li said. “We [also needed to get] information about the students, [like] shirt sizes and emergency care forms.”

Planning also included choosing appropriate activities for the students to do. These activities ranged from tours to brain games.

“There are four activities, and one of them is a tour. The other three, we [had] to come up with,” Li said. “Our main theme this year is spies. Our activities [were] a Caesar cipher, a mock trial murder mystery and the third one [was] building a roller coaster to transmit a ‘secret message’ from point A to point B.”

MSLC was designed to be fast-paced and challenging for the middle schoolers.

“A lot of this is supposed to be impromptu,” freshman SGA member Angie Oh said. “For example, in the [mock trial] case, they have around ten minutes to look over the documents. After these 10 minutes, they have to argue [their case]. It’s fast-paced, [and requires] quick thinking.”

MSLC served as a way to have new experiences for middle school students. With hands-on activities and critical thinking puzzles, the younger students were able to explore a new area of interest.

“I would absolutely recommend [MSLC]. It’s a great way to meet new people and go past your comfort zone and [have] new experiences,” middle school student Devika Shreehari said. “I felt [that] the events were very interactive, and I loved hearing what the other people thought.”