Meet The New Habitat Coordinators!

Let’s welcome Jami R., Isadora B., Simran L., and Robbie H. as the new Habitat for Humanity coordinators for the 2019-2020 school year. Habitat for Humanity is a community service group with the aims of providing adequate housing for those who are unable to afford or receive it.

Jami Robertson is a grade 10 student starting her second year in Habitat for Humanity. The process of becoming a coordinator started last year when Jami was a freshman, she had to write a letter to apply as coordinator. After the summer break all of the applicants had to be interviewed by the current Habitat coordinators as well as giving a speech in front of all the members of Habitat. Jami said that although the process seems laborious “it really shows how professional the whole process is and how it resembles an actual job application.” Jami decided to become a coordinator because she’s very passionate about the club and wants to contribute to it on a greater level. She also wants to improve her leadership skills as well as her ability to work with other people. As a coordinator Jami plans improving each meeting more productively, bring more enthusiasm to the group, and give more ideas for future food sales and PTA events. As a new coordinator, Jami doesn’t think that this position will come with a lot of stress but will definitely come with lots of responsibility. She plans to keep a maintained balance between schoolwork and being coordinator by carefully planning out her work. Jami says that for anyone who wants to become a coordinator in the future they should step out of their comfort zone do things to demonstrate your leadership capabilities.

Robbie He is a grade 11 student in his third year as a member of Habitat. Robbie said that the process of becoming a coordinator was “tiering [sic]” as they had to prepare to give a speech in front of their peers and be interviewed by the current coordinators. Getting into a good university is important for Robbie, which is why he decided to apply for the position as a coordinator. When Robbie received the position as coordinator he felt accomplished and proud of himself. To help improve habitat as a community Robbie will make the people who don’t work, do work and make sure to keep everyone on task. He doesn’t think that this position will not be that stressful. Robbie encourages anyone who wants to run for coordinator to “try hard work hard.” Robbie has attended two work trips and will attend another work trip this year as he is a coordinator.

Isadora Busato is a grade 10 student joining us in her second year as a Habitat coordinator. Isadora says that the process of becoming a coordinator was long but helped the previous coordinators decide which of the potential coordinators should get the position. Isadora said that Habitat is one of the best community services in the whole school and it’s also the oldest and being a coordinator would be a great personal achievement. She believes that she has the proper skill set to run the community service and improve it. To help improve Habitat, Isadora plans to implement different sorts of organizational systems such as grouping the members into different roles, so they know what their task is before the meeting, as well as to encourage members participation through a reward system for those who work hard. Isadora says that “any position that requires someone to take a leadership role will be somewhat stressful, as you can’t always satisfy everyone” but she believes that in her ability to lead and manage this organization. When Isadora got the position she felt really proud of herself as there were 8 possible candidates and only 4 got chosen however she also felt sad because some of her friends were running for the position and didn’t get it. Isadora strongly recommends that people who are interested in running for the position start working hard since the beginning of the year and not just towards the end because the current habitat coordinators will be watching you.

Simran Lekhwani is a grade 11 student who has been in Habitat for Humanity for three years. Simran described the process of becoming a coordinator quite simple, she says that the process begins the day you become a member of habitat. When she first joined Habitat, being a coordinator wasn’t a plan but after going on a build trip and the feeling you get when you help other people is amazing. She says that coming from a background in her hometown of India she sees a lot of homeless people. Studying abroad has been something she feels very privileged about and she appreciates the opportunities her parents have been able to give her. She feels like it’s her contribution towards the society. To help improve Habitat one of Simran’s idea was to do more bake sales to show the creative side of Habitat. They are also planning on doing a bigger event that could be hosted during APAC nights or school events where the people from our school and other schools can attend. Simran says that “no doubt it’s going to be stressful but that’s the reason we have four coordinators for such a big group.” She doesn’t think it will interfere with her schoolwork as we don’t do a lot of big events throughout the year. “Try to be yourself don’t be a coordinator in the sense of you wanting CAS credits or just to put it on your resume do it because it’s something your passionate about” is the advice given by Simran to anyone who wants to run for Habitat coordinator.

Jami R., Isadora B., Simran L., and Robbie H. hope to make the best of the time they have as Habitat coordinators and hope they can improve Habitat for Humanity as a community service.