The learners at SCVi Charter School in Santa Clarita not only take away what they learned from the curriculum after graduation, but valuable leadership skills for their future careers as well.
“At our schools, we recognize the importance of not just teaching kids content, but developing that leadership in them,” said Matt Watson, who hosts KHTS Radio’s “Eye on the Valley” show by SCVi/iLEAD.
On the most recent show, Watson was joined by Corrine Barchanowicz, Westfield Valencia Town Center’s visionary general manager, to discuss how important it is to cultivate leadership skills in youth.
“Leadership for me really does start at an early age, and it’s amazing the different opportunities you get to develop those skills to be a leader,” Barchanowicz said, adding that growing up as an athlete, becoming a team captain and eventually a coach had a heavy influence on her leadership development.
“That was really influential, and I didn’t obviously realize it at the time, but really influential in shaping the leader I then wanted to become as I came into a professional role,” she continued.
At Westfield, senior management does not view positions as “entry-level” or “manager” when they hire, instead choosing to “constantly looking at how they invest in every one of us to become future leaders in the business,” according to Barchanowicz.
Westfield is even holding a leadership coaching program that Barchanowicz is planning to participate in, which emphasizes inclusion and diversity in senior leadership, as well as the development of women leaders, specifically.
“I really love that they’ve taken that acknowledgment to see that there are different needs when it comes to the way that women work in the workplace and the way that men traditionally do as well,” Barchanowicz said.
The program’s female participants, who were identified by company officials as “future leaders,” are set to receive coaching and mentoring designed to help them “develop the skill set to help propel our growth to senior leadership roles,” Barchanowicz explained.
Watson noted, “It’s great to see how much you and Westfield and SCVi, our schools, have in common, although it’s not surprising because our town center and our schools are products of the same innovative, giving community.”
He continued by speaking to the radio show’s audience of parents, concluding, “If you listeners have a child who wants to be part of that next generation of innovative change-makers and you want to ensure that they’re being prepared to lead the way with a sense of service and community, come visit us at SCVi.”