Princeton Peer Leadership Program Acts as Springboard for Tomorrow's Leaders

A scavenger hunt on campus recently wasn’t just an afternoon of fun and adventure for the six groups of participating freshmen. Instead it was an exercise in group-building and social bonding – and yes, fun! – led by 12 seniors who are this year's Peer Leaders.

Hamden Hall’s Princeton Peer Leadership Program was established nearly a quarter of a century ago to offer freshmen a year-long high school orientation and social mentoring opportunity. Moreover, the program acts as a springboard for the 12 Peer Leaders, comprised of six male and six female seniors, offering them real-world approaches and problem-solving mechanisms that launch their roles as future community and global leaders.

“This is the most well-developed program of its kind in the country and we are coming up on our 25th year,” said Peer Leadership Advisor John Greenawalt. “We have a highly academic version of the Princeton Peer Leadership Program where each quarter in our five-day-a-week class, seniors work through a major leadership skill unit and are assigned a paper or project related to leadership.”

Furthermore, Mr. Greenawalt credited the program with being the answer to the proverbial question, “When will I ever use this in real life?”

“We teach real-world, social-emotional skills and approaches that set our seniors up for future leadership positions,” he maintained.

Peer Leader Dan Reynolds said he has gleaned much from the program, including a new ease for speaking in public.

“For me, I never really felt comfortable speaking in front of large groups,” Dan said. Now, because of the freshman discussion groups that I help facilitate, I am much better about it and I really believe it’s advantageous and a great trait to be taking to college.”

Each year, 12 seniors are chosen (a highly selective process) and begin their journey as freshman mentors. Leadership potential, an interest in personal growth, an ability to get along well with others, and an overall diverse representation of the school community factor into the selection process. Besides Mr. Greenawalt, faculty advisors include Chase duPont 2002 (who was a Peer Leader himself!) and Stephanie Spaulding.

This year’s Peer Leaders are: Alessandro Chiodo, Lauren Collins, Jamie DeNicola, Sydney Dinkeloo, Sydney Doolittle, Avery Giorgio, Paige Greger-Moser, Nick Linta, Dan Reynolds, Joe Sapiente, Dimitri Skuret and Alexandra Walz.

Peer Leaders commence their new roles in August with a three-day leadership training retreat, followed by a mid-year 24-hour refresher retreat. In between, Peer Leaders attend intensive daily training classes and preside over weekly freshmen discussion groups. The seniors partner with one another and discuss topics such as friendship, social and academic pressures, and other peer-related issues with their freshman advisees.

To celebrate the program’s success throughout the decades, a reunion for all Peer Leaders, from 1989 through 2013, is planned for Saturday, May 11, 2013. For more information, contact Mr. Greenawalt at jgreenawalt@hamdenhall.org.