Leadership isn’t always about having the loudest voice. Sometimes it’s about finding a way to help your team move forward.

Yesterday was our team-building day, and it was exactly what this group needed one month into our year together.

We started with a cereal bar planned entirely by the students. Annabelle, Matt and Brina were on top of the planning, creating spreadsheets, assigning responsibilities and making sure all the details were covered. They even checked with the class about milk and nut allergies before finalizing everything.

That little detail stood out to me. They weren’t just thinking about what we needed. They were thinking about what their team needed.

And apparently, our team needed A LOT of chocolate cereal. Cocoa Puffs, Reese’s Puffs, chocolate milk…there were some pretty creative combinations happening!

It was a fun way to start our morning at Freeburg Park. There were quite a few early-morning walkers out enjoying the park, and several stopped to ask what we were doing. I will always take the opportunity to tell people about Silver Creek Area CEO and what these students are learning. The response is almost always positive, and that never gets old.

Then it was time for activities planned and led by Chloe, Kelsey, Charlie and Tyler. They organized the activities, explained the instructions and made sure everyone was involved.

We started with “Who is most likely to…” questions. Who is most likely to be a billionaire? Who would be late because they had to stop for coffee? Who would survive an apocalypse?

And finally…who would lose their phone while they were holding it? (I told them they couldn’t answer with my name.)

There was a lot of laughing, but something more important was happening too. They were talking, learning more about each other and building relationships.

Then came the blindfold and rope challenge.

Before we started, the class chose eight students they felt had really begun to emerge as leaders. Maybe they were asking more questions at site visits, sharing their opinions, speaking up in class or simply becoming a little more vocal.

The twist? Those eight students couldn’t speak.

All 22 students were blindfolded and split into two teams of 11. Each team had a large rope tied into a loop, and their job was to use it to create a perfect square.

They had eight minutes.

When I said, “You have eight minutes…annnnnd GO!” things got a little chaotic.

Everyone had an idea, and pretty quickly they realized they couldn’t succeed if everyone was giving directions at the same time.

They talked about the properties of a square. Straight lines. Right angles. Four equal sides.

Except…they kind of forgot that last one.

There were so many moments of, “I think we’ve got it!”

I’d look over and see a trapezoid.

Or a rectangle.

They’d adjust. Try again.

And honestly, I loved watching it.

They were learning by doing. Communicating. Problem-solving. Listening to each other and figuring out what wasn’t working.

Then Matt, who tends to be one of our more soft-spoken students, took the lead in his group.

“We need four corners.”

And that’s when Kaiden, one of the eight students who couldn’t speak, figured out he could get his teammates’ attention by clapping. He couldn’t tell them what to do, but he could signal that he was ready to be one of those corners.

I loved watching it unfold. One student found his voice and took the lead, while another found a completely different way to communicate.

And then the lightbulb went off: a square has four equal sides.

On the other team, Nick had a different idea.

“Everyone just stand still. I’m gonna walk this off just like we do in marching band to make sure all the sides are equal.”

I loved that moment too. He took something he already knew from marching band and applied it to a completely different problem.

And that was happening all morning.

New leaders emerged. New voices were heard. New ideas were tried.

They experimented, adjusted, listened and kept trying. They got comfortable being uncomfortable.

We wrapped up the morning with bags, but there was another twist. Students were placed on teams with someone from a different school, and every time they missed, they had to answer one of Chloe’s random questions.

More laughter. More conversation. More getting to know one another. Huge shout out to Chris for the dramatic video at the end of the pics!

And honestly, we just had fun yesterday.

Lots of laughing, lots of figuring things out and lots of getting to know each other a little better.

One month in, I think we needed a morning like this.