Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders: ES Student Council and the Energy Bus Movement Drive Change

By Angel Jin, ISB Communications 

Published on Thursday, April 17, 2025

This year, 34 incredible elementary students took on a year-long leadership journey through the ES Student Council (StuCo). More than just planning events, this dedicated group has been growing as confident leaders, public speakers, and change-makers within the school community — modeling what it means to lead with purpose and heart. 

Leading With Confidence and Compassion 

When asked what makes a good leader, students often responded with one word: confidence. Through presentations, organizing school-wide events, and speaking in assemblies, they’ve learned how to share their voices boldly and thoughtfully. 

Prior to Spirit Week, the students surveyed classrooms and collected data for potential activities. They were intentional about ensuring that everyone got the opportunity to choose what would happen. They used the results to plan the week, from theme ideas to logistics, they ran the show — and their creativity and energy were contagious throughout the school. 

Voices That Matter: Taking Action Together 

StuCo has expanded by breaking into 3 working groups. One of the groups, the Student Council Action Group, focused on making real change through student input. They created a school-wide survey to hear more voices, and one of the biggest themes to emerge was a desire to address food waste — something they’re already working to tackle. 

Other efforts include: 

• The School Improvement Group have been creating and sharing positive announcements on Mondays, setting the tone for positive energy every week.

• Little Leaders Reports with motivational videos to inspire their peers. 

• A special new student survey to help make transitions easier for newcomers. 

And their biggest initiative this spring? Designing and delivering anti-bullying lessons for their homeroom classes in grades 1–5. After four weeks of preparation, they taught their peers about being upstanders, using interactive tools like Kahoot, and building lessons that truly resonate. The result? A more powerful message — because it’s coming from students, for students. 

The Energy Bus: Driving a Culture of Belonging 

At the heart of all this student leadership is the Energy Bus initiative — a movement that champions kindness, empathy, and a strong sense of belonging across the school. Every Monday, students hear positive messages during morning announcements, related to creating a culture of inclusion and positivity, and in April, the school launched the “Love Your Passengers” campaign, reinforcing the idea that everyone is on this ride together. 

The Energy Bus initiative extends far beyond students: 

• Parent volunteers have co-constructed materials to send home for our parent outreach challenge around belonging, inclusive language, and being an upstander. 

• For the month of April, families are receiving weekly challenges to promote responsibility, allyship, inclusive language, and being an upstander. 

• Staff are engaging in professional learning about empathy, compassion, and healthy workplace culture — proving that this movement includes everyone on the bus. 

Initiatives like the Gratitude Wall, Random Acts of Kindness, and Anti-Bullying Spirit Week continue to promote a culture of care and connection. Whether it's supporting new families, forming parent volunteer working groups, or rolling out purposeful lessons, the message is clear: we fuel our ride with kindness, purpose, and action. 

Looking Ahead 

This work represents just one of the many ways that ISB takes a proactive approach to promoting inclusion for the unique members of our ISB community. Thanks to collaboration between student leaders, teachers, and parents, the school is not only building leadership — it's building a movement. As the Energy Bus keeps rolling, more families, students, and staff are getting on board. And with students at the wheel, there’s no limit to where it can go. Because here at ISB, we love our passengers, and we all belong on this ride.