The student government is a spirited, hardworking group of middle school girls who are devoted to maintaining healthy, fun-filled student life at Hamlin. Participating in student government engenders a sense of leadership and responsibility in each girl as they learn how to plan and run a meeting, organize a student assembly, help lead middle school assemblies, help facilitate grade level meetings to discuss topics of interest, make announcements in homeroom, learn how to work within a budget, and learn about the organization and advance planning that it takes to pull off a large-scale event. This is a student-centered organization, one where the girls are encouraged to be responsible as much as possible. While the faculty advisor guides the group with a caring, yet realistic hand, the girls shoulder an appropriate level of responsibility for each event they undertake.

Lower school students take on leadership in the classroom and in student assemblies, acting as moderators for the weekly gathering of the lower school and “speakers of the house” for reporting weekly activities in classrooms. Student involvement in service learning and community building begin in the earliest years.

Many opportunities for nurturing the girls’ nascent leadership skills are available in the middle school, and several established program began with student interest and leadership. The community service club, 8th grade tour guide program, debate club, recycling program, sports teams, the Culture Club, the Big and Little Sister Program, science lab animal care, and dining hall duty all offer students a chance to cultivate and demonstrate leadership. Seventh graders participate in a two-day leadership program in the spring of each year to prepare to take on the role of eighth-graders in the school. Students are also encouraged to initiate new students programs; in 2005-2006, students took the initiative for a new morning wellness program. Two years ago, the Hamlin Camps program, conducted each summer, created a leadership training strand for girls to become counselors in training and learn about leadership responsibilities. Several Hamlin students and recent alumnae have participated.