When students return from a transformative experience like the 2025 Compassion Summit, the real work begins. This year, my students came back from ACS in Amman, Jordan, not only inspired but also determined to create meaningful change within our school. 

What stood out to me most was the strategic approach employed by my students—they didn’t aim for vague, abstract goals. Instead, they focused on an area where they have direct influence: creating a positive school community where all students get along.

At the summit, they engaged deeply with a change-making framework, which helped them shape a concrete plan with three key initiatives:

1. Creating a Compassion Club – A student-led space where peers can come together to plan initiatives that strengthen our school’s sense of community. This club will serve as a hub for projects focused on kindness, inclusion, and peer support.
2. Improving the Buddy System for New Students – Our school already pairs new students with buddies to help them transition, but students identified areas for improvement. Their goal is to make this system more structured and effective, ensuring that new students feel truly welcomed and supported as they integrate into school life.
3. Bringing in Experts to Teach Conflict Resolution – Recognizing that conflict is inevitable in any community, students want to equip their peers with the tools to handle disagreements with resilience, positivity, and empathy. They plan to invite professionals who specialize in mediation and emotional intelligence to lead workshops for the student body.

The first step in this ambitious plan is gathering data. The student team has developed a school-wide survey to gauge their peers’ perspectives on key issues: 

• How well do students feel equipped to manage conflict? 
• How effective is the current buddy system? 
• What challenges do students face when transitioning from elementary to middle school? 

Here is a link to the survey questions we used. 

The responses will help the team refine their approach and ensure that their initiatives align with the real needs of their classmates.

This is an exciting time for our students. They’re not just talking about change—they’re actively working to make it happen. Through research, collaboration, and hands-on leadership, they are proving that middle schoolers can be powerful agents of change. I can’t wait to see how their work shapes our school community in the months ahead.

Ed X!