What Happens When We Trust Them?

At the American International School of Bucharest (AISB), something remarkable happened this year—an experience, the significance of which I am still unfolding. Early in the school year, I engaged with our Board of Trustees in a conversation about the possibility of doing things differently. One of our school’s strategic priorities is Student Agency and Autonomy, and I was aware of how eager the Board was to see that commitment reflected in meaningful, visible ways. Together, we explored a bold question: What if, instead of leading the process ourselves, we entrusted our students with the responsibility of answering the most foundational question a school can ask—What is our school for?

While the responsibility for defining a school’s mission traditionally rests with the Board, they chose a different path, one rooted in trust. It was not a relinquishing of duty, but a values-driven act of shared leadership. It reflected our belief that young people should not only be heard, but empowered to lead. And from that decision, something extraordinary emerged.

This was not a symbolic exercise, nor a conventional student project. With the support of our partners at [YELLOW CAR], it became a thoughtfully guided, real-world experience marked by professionalism, purpose, and pride. David Willows and Suzette Parlevliet brought deep experience in educational storytelling and strategy, and they met our students with the same level of respect and clarity they bring to their global consultancy work. They helped shape a process in which students were not simply asked for input, but trusted to create something lasting and meaningful.

The Student Mission Committee gathered feedback from across the school—interviewing staff, alumni, and hundreds of students. Voice was not just the beginning, it was the throughline. But the students did not stop at listening. They moved from insight to leadership. They surfaced themes, worked through complexity, and built consensus. And then, together, they crafted a mission that captured both who we are and who we are becoming:

Think Fearlessly.
Act with Kindness.
Shape Tomorrow.

When they presented their outcome to the Board of Trustees, it was approved unanimously. Not a single word was changed.

One of the most powerful aspects of this journey was how deliberately trust was built into the structure. The Board trusted me to propose a new approach. I trusted our students to lead it. And we all trusted our partners at [YELLOW CAR] to guide the process with care and clarity. This was not about symbolic inclusion. It was about meaningful responsibility. The students rose to the occasion—not only with maturity, but with vision. The result was not a polished slogan, but a statement of purpose that now defines our collective direction.

This mission is not a slogan. It is a standard. Think Fearlessly. Act with Kindness. Shape Tomorrow. These words now ask something of all of us—leaders, educators, students, and community members. They challenge us to align practice with purpose. And the work is only beginning. In the new school year, students will be invited to take on a new role: monitoring how well we are living the mission they created. Their feedback will guide our reflection and further growth.

This is AISB. This is our mission. And this is what becomes possible when we choose to trust students, not just to lead, but to hold us accountable. The mission our students created is not something we gave to them. It is something they gave to us—a mission with weight and intention, built from evidence, shaped through dialogue, and delivered with pride.