LEADERSHIP LABAt Severn School’s annual Upper School Leadership Lab, everyone is welcome, and every voice is heard. This authentic skill-building opportunity gives students a real voice in school culture conversations while also gaining leadership experience.Through this signature initiative, Upper School students voluntarily come together at the end of each summer to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the school community, participate in interactive skill-building seminars, and devise a unifying call to action for the school year, known as the Adaptive Challenge. The Leadership Lab challenges students to take an active role in creating the kind of community they want to be a part of.The August event spans three days and includes small group discussions, faculty-led seminars designed to help students develop leadership skills, and fun team-building activities. The final day includes a full group session to come up with the Adaptive Challenge, which aims to offer a solution to some aspect of school life that participants identified as a challenge. The final motto is then adopted as the rallying cry for the school year, creating a sense of unity within the school community.This article is part of the 2024-2025 Guide to Baltimore Independent Schools.