Empower Students through Leadership Training

In 2022 Student Leader (SL) Program accepted 26 nominated students from 15 cities across Bulgaria. As you know, BEST’s Student Leader Program trains Bulgarian high school students participating in BEST to be team leaders, mentors to younger students, and active servants in their home communities. Student Leaders are nominated by their BEST coach for their outstanding leadership, encouragement, and commitment to their team. The concept of the program can be seen in its two-way impact: SLs are helping not only their fellow students but the local community as well. The community projects that have been implemented by the participants throughout the years provide us with a great example of the added value of the program. Awards are given at the end of the year for the most outstanding performances.

Traditionally, at the beginning of the school year, a Student Leader training was held in Sofia for a weekend training held in Hotel Forum - 7-9 October. All the students participated and we had an unforgettable weekend. Several workshops were made and they covered titles such as: how to create and manage a BST team, attracting candidates for BEST tournaments, fundraising.

A couple of sessions were organized for generating a Community project ideas: student leaders were divided into groups and had to come up with their own mini-project under the guidance of a management team member. Then they presented it in front of everybody and were given valuable feedback - strengths and weaknesses were pointed and discussed.

We had a guest Alumni of the program who presentedtheir successful project from previous year and shared knowledge and tips for success.

There was a guest lecture, a Psychology Professor from the American University – Ron Harvey, who organized several unforgettable Team Building games. The main goal was to present ideas how to make their BEST teams more united and strong via game and fun.

All this activities help the student leaders create a strong community for the year to come. The program creates a sense of belonging among the SLs which is vital for the BEST community.

Currently, the students are close to the deadline to submit their proposals for the community projects they will implement in the Spring semester.

We look forward to the new ideas that we will see realized in May 2023.

Thank you for your continued support and we wish you very happy holidays!