Upper School students serve as Project Faith Student Managers, a longstanding leadership role in which they help plan and lead key elements of the initiative, from assemblies and Spirit Week to guiding students and volunteers on Project Faith day. This year, they deepened their preparation through hands-on leadership training at Apple Ridge Farm, equipping them with practical experience, stronger teamwork, and greater confidence to lead effectively.

Each year, a group of Upper School students serves as Project Faith Student Managers to support Project Faith. This role has been a longstanding tradition of Project Faith that Lower, Middle, and Upper School students look forward to after observing their peers serve throughout the years.

The Student Manager team takes on numerous responsibilities each year, including performing the skits at each Project Faith assembly, selecting the shirt color and designs for the Project Faith shirts, selecting the dress-up days for Spirit Week, and serving alongside their Project Manager on Project Faith day to lead their assigned students and parent volunteers through a set task list.

Months before the big day, they begin communicating with their assigned Project Manager (a parent volunteer) for Project Faith, and help name their team, select their team color, and learn which grade level(s) they will work with and what tasks they will oversee. They report early to the Project Faith site ahead of the parent and student volunteers and are the last to leave their work zones after all work is complete and the zone is properly cleaned up.

This year, the Student Manager team was offered a unique opportunity to spend a day on site at Apple Ridge Farm, our 2026 partner, for a day of leadership training, team building, and work sessions with their Project Managers.

Josh Thoemeke, Apple Ridge Farm Executive Director, and Jordan Bell, Program Director, spent time sharing more about Apple Ridge Farm and discussing leadership attributes with the students. They then ran the students through training similar to the training received by their high school camp counselors and reviewed some of the challenge activities they engage in with their campers. This training involved a variety of classroom and outdoor exercises, including navigating the camp blindfolded in a single-file line, trust-falling into each other’s arms from a platform, and working together to get each student over a large pipe mounted above their heads between two trees.

Students’ time with Project Managers was also invaluable. They got to know each other a little better, walking their zones, learning where their headquarters will be and what jobs each grade will be doing, talking through various assignments for their teams, and hiking numerous trails to get familiar with the terrain for their assigned trail-clearing jobs. At the end of the day, the group came back together and de-briefed on their PF duties, and Mr. Thoemeke ran them through a couple of final team-building activities.

The students provided very positive feedback about the day, and many said this training should be an annual part of Student Manager preparation, as these sessions should position them for success by being so much more prepared when they arrive on Project Faith day. The in-depth training ensures that managers are knowledgeable, familiar with the work zone, and ready to greet parents and students. Additionally, since the Student Managers will be visiting their assigned grades the week before Project Faith to review their work day, they will be able to speak about the jobs so much more capably because they have actually seen the work zones and have a true understanding of it.