On January 24, the Fossil Ridge High School counseling department hosted the 2023 Student Leadership Academy Lottery. This is the third annual lottery in Fossil Ridge history. 

The lottery process started in February 2021, when the idea was brought to the leadership department by Jen Smella. The lottery idea was inspired by New York Times Writer, Malcolm Gladwell. On the episode “The Powerball Revolution” of the podcast Revisionist History, Gladwell details the benefits of having a lottery process for student council elections. 

“A lot of students traditionally thought they only got into StuCo if they were the best of the best,” says Leadership by Design teacher, Brendon Gallagher. “And that bred philosophy or attitude of elitism.” 

The overall consensus made by the counseling team in 2021 was that the best way to run a class based on servant leadership was to incorporate a wider variety of perspectives into the program. 

Most students applying and getting into leadership classes were students with high GPAs who were already a part of many clubs and honor societies around Fossil. 

“They’re not able to specialize because they’re trying to do so many different things,” says Gallagher. 

To enter the leadership lottery, all you have to do is fill out the Google Form and you are automatically entered into the lottery process. There are three leadership classes at Fossil: RIDGE Leadership, Leadership by Design, and Ambassadors. Ambassadors is the only leadership class at Fossil where the applicants are picked through an interview process.

The lottery process was live-streamed on the SabercatFilms Youtube channel on January 24, 2023. To access the stream, click the link attached to this article or visit Sabercat Films on Youtube. If you want to know if your name was selected, check your email. Accept or decline your seat by 9:00 AM on Friday, January 26 or you will automatically lose your seat.