Building Accountability Through Community Roles

Community Roles On Campus At Asheville Academy For Girls

Learning to take accountability for your actions is one of the most valuable life skills a young girl can learn.  At Asheville Academy, we help students build accountability through their assigned community roles.

What are community roles?

Students take on roles within the campus community in order to learn new life skills such as respect, accountability, and leadership. These roles change every couple of weeks in order to create new learning opportunities. Community roles:

• • • Create a positive peer culture within the community. Within their tree groups (learn more here>>>), each student plays a role within the group dynamic. Guided by mentors, they are essentially running their own groups. They have to take accountability for the dynamic of their group. Students work together to resolve conflicts and make sure the group dynamic is healthy and positive.
    • Teach important life skills.  A lot of students come to Asheville Academy without an understanding of how to do certain important chores such as laundry. These community groups help teach students life skills. Students are learning those important skills and come to a realization that they can do things for themselves. It helps build a sense of pride and autonomy.  

Examples of Community Roles at Asheville Academy

Team Leader:

The team leader is in charge of running their group. They help problem solve with their peers and are responsible for setting group goals. Team Leader is a student that shows good leadership and problem-solving skills. She can work with a mentor on ways to help her peers.

Job Coordinator:

The Job Coordinator ensures that all jobs are being carried out correctly. They assign the daily cleaning jobs such as kitchen clean up. This position requires a student to be confident and work well with others.

Big Sister:

The Big Sister acts as a guide and coach for students during their first few weeks at Asheville Academy. They are responsible for helping the new student learn rules and expectations of the program. As a mentor, students must be a good role model and not engage in unhealthy behaviors with students such as negative conversations. This student will sit next to new students within groups and at meal times until the new student feels comfortable at Asheville Academy.

Downy:

As a Downy, a student will create a laundry schedule for all of the girls. She ensures that each student is following the laundry schedule. She also teaches her peers about how to use the laundry equipment appropriately such as how to use detergent and how to clean dryer vents.

Thumper:

In the Thumper role, students wake up ten minutes before their peers and help to wake everyone up. They are responsible for making sure everyone in their group is on time for school, groups, and activities.

Goalie:

The Goalie is someone who can help lead team members to creating, following through, and process daily/ weekly goals.  Goalie will lead a goal setting round at breakfast for each team member to set a goal or intention for day. The Goalie uses the “SMART” goal method to help her peers set goals. The SMART goal method is:

S= SPECIFIC

M= MEASURABLE

A= ACHIEVABLE

R= REALISTIC

T= TIMELY