TWAW: Training future leaders

The Leader in Me initiative has really taken off in Woodland’s elementary wing.

Staff and students have embraced Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”-- the ideas that the program is built around. They are starting new activities that help each other to be proactive, begin with the end in mind and “sharpen the saw", among other life principles.

One recent event, sponsored by the Leader in Me program, was a movie day to celebrate the end of Red Ribbon Week. Instead of teachers choosing which movie each class would watch, the students had more choice and the opportunity to mix with students in other grade levels. Each teacher chose a movie to play in their classroom. Movie tickets were printed for each room and lined up for students to choose from. Students went to the “box office", which looked suspiciously like the gym, to “buy” their free movie ticket. Leader in Me funds supplied popcorn and soda. A fun time was had by all.

Shortly after “sharpening the saw” with a relaxing movie day, elementary hosted their first Drop Everything and Lead day. Teachers formed groups of two or three and picked a team activity to sponsor. They made a video explaining what their team would be doing. PE Coach Tyler Qualls and colleagues hosted games and gardening. Another group of teachers had nature and walking as their focus. Students could read books, paint rocks, learn about animals, or try their hand at Taekwondo. In all, there were 16 options for students to choose from. After watching the videos, students listed their top three choices. Leader in Me organizer Kristin Smith and counselor Emily Johnson sorted the kids into one of the groups of their choosing. The first DEAL day kicked off with a whole-school meeting to go over expectations. Then, students headed to their team to get started. Many of the groups will incorporate a service project into their club. For example, the crochet club plans to make tiny hats to donate to newborn babies in the hospital.