The Warren County Board of Supervisors took a big step toward improving education in Warren County with its decision to make a one-time $100,000 contribution to the Leader In Me Initiative.

The contribution helps fill a funding gap caused when the Legislature decided not to provide funding for the third year of the program.

The Leader in Me program was established by the Vicksburg Warren County Chamber of Commerce through a community foundation and is currently managed by the school district, according to Jimmy Gouras with the private Economic Development Foundation.

Initially, $400,000 was raised to implement Leader In Me in Bowmar, Bovina, Redwood, Dana Road and Beechwood Elementary schools. Every VWSD school now has the Leader In Me initiative.

And every school that has been in the program for at least three years has shown at least one level of improvement.

According to Gouras, the Legislature agreed to provide $100,000 over a four-year period to help fund Leader In Me as a pilot program for the rest of the state because of the success rate in the VWSD.

“As I understand it, the funds did come from the state for the first two years,” Gouras told the supervisors Monday. “This year, the funds did not, and we do not expect the funds will come from the state next year. So there’s a $100,000 shortfall.”

Based on Franklin Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Leader In Me focuses on giving students leadership roles in their school. It is a school-wide model that provides a basis for improving academic achievement, decreasing discipline problems and increasing engagement among teachers and parents.

The seven habits students learn are: be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek first to understand then to be understood, synergize and sharpen the saw.

Since it introduced Leader In Me, the VWSD has hosted Leader In Me symposiums and served as a model for the program.

“The Leader In Me program has proven to be a great success in our school district,” Gouras said. “I, for one, believe that as our schools go, so go our community. And I think it’s important that we support this program.”

The supervisors should be commended for realizing the importance of the program and providing that support.