After a few weeks of implementation at Dana Road Elementary The Leader in Me program is going strong.
Principal Sherrie Williams said the program is going well and she is excited about it.
“We’ve started teaching students the habits. We’re doing one a month,” she said.
The first habit, Be Proactive, was taught to students during the month of August, and this month the students are learning the second habit, Begin with the End in Mind.
“The children for the most part can tell you what the habits are and many can tell you what they mean,” Williams said.
Williams said she is particularly excited about the kickoff they are having next month where teachers and volunteers will act out the seven habits in skits.
The skits will show examples of how to exhibit a good habit and how to exhibit a bad habit.
She said she hopes that within two to three years of implementing the program, the school can become a Lighthouse school.
Schools that have Lighthouse status have full implementation of the Leader in Me program.
Williams said she hopes to see the students grow as the school does.
“I want to see the children take on roles of leadership in their classrooms and hopefully transition to their communities and home,” she said.
“It’s not just memorizing, it’s actually putting into action what these habits mean,” she said.
She said the school is implementing WIGS for the student, which stands for Wildly Important Goals. The two main goals are to make attendance go up and discipline go down.
Parental involvement is also on the rise at Dana Road Elementary, Williams said.
Ashley Cessna, second grade teacher said she helped implement leadership notebooks for the students. The notebooks allow students to have mission statements in them, keep up with their progress reports, chart their own grades and keep up with their accelerated reader scores in their notebook.
Williams said this allows parents to see exactly how their student is doing.
Lighthouse members and teachers have a lot of passion for the Leader in Me program.
Queietasha Younger, second grade teacher said in her classroom, they start with a morning routine.
“When they walk in, they’re supposed to unpack their backpack, sign up for lunch, and make sure they are well-prepared,” she said.
This is to coincide with the second habit, Begin with the End in Mind.
“They have the same routine every day,” Younger said.
In all the classrooms, students have jobs. Some of the jobs include a door greeter, lunch counter, computer tech, cleaning crew and a person who pushes a garbage can so students can empty their trash.
Younger has a saying in her class. She tells students to be a CEO, which stands for Chief Executive for Others. She said when she tells them to be a CEO, they know to change their behavior.
Morgan Yates, second-grade teacher at Dana Road also has a saying in her class called Don’t be a Coke. As a project she did with her students she showed the difference between dropping Mentos in water and dropping them in coke. The coke fizzed and the water remained calm.
“They know when I say ‘you’re being a coke,’ to change their attitude,” Yates said.
Yates added that her students have responded positively to the program.
“They’re taking more responsibility for each other and backing each other up. They encourage each other on a daily basis,” she said.
Jennifer Penley, first-grade teacher said that jobs given to first graders have a lot of meaning to them.
“It’s a really big deal to them. They take their job really seriously. They want to be a part of something,” she said.
Penley tells her students to be an OWL, which stands for Outstanding Wonderful Leader.
She said she hopes her students carry out what they have learned throughout their education.
Crystal White, kindergarten teacher said she gives every student a job.
“There is a student leader of the day and a student leader of the week. They help with assignments and help other students accomplish their jobs.
Williams said many of the teachers and adults around the school are also implementing the program.
“We want to believe it and live it and have it make a difference,” Williams said.