Timmy Chung, a third – grader at St. Stephens Elementary School, surveyed the contents of his schedule and sighed. He had a problem: The adults in his tour group were lagging behind.
One of them was Mountain View Elementary School principal Dyanne Sherrill. Unable to resist, she had stayed behind to help students with a math exercise during the fourth – grade classrooms tour, far past the five-minute alert Timmy had given the group.
Timmy tapped his feet for a few minutes, then grasped his clipboard and walked over to Sherrill, looking up at her from his three-and-a-half foot frame.
“Sorry!” Sherrill laughed, falling back into the tour group, which was peeling away toward the playground.
If it seems like Timmy’s in charge, that’s because he is. St. Stephens Elementary is one of three schools in the county piloting a new program called The Leader in Me . It is catching fire across Catawba County.
Developed in the ’90s and based on Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, ” the program asks schools to reinvent themselves from top-down and put the emphasis on giving students more responsibility in school.
“You don’t do Leader in Me at Tuesdays at 2,” said Catawba County Schools student services coordinator Mary Moren, who was instrumental in bringing the program to CCS last year. “Leader in Me is your climate. It’s how you do business in school.”
St. Stephens Elementary and Oxford Elementary are the two CCS leadership schools piloting the program this year. Students there have jobs like being a daily greeter at the front door , serving as the flag-raiser at the pledge, or eating lunch with kids without lunch buddies.
The program culminates at the end of the year in a Leadership Day, where schools showcase the students’ leadership skills. At St. Stephens, students greeted visitors such as CCS superintendent Dan Brigman with cheery hellos and firm handshakes. They took visitors inside for performances and tours of the school. Everywhere, sharply-dressed students walked aboutwith purpose , acting more like adults than elementary school kids .
St. Stephens Elementary principal Donna Heavner said the program had been “transformational” for students and staff.
“We have seen decreased numbers of office referrals,” Heavner said. “We have seen decreased numbers of tardies.”
South Newton Elementary, Newton-Conover City Schools, also started the program this year.
Instructional coach Scarlet Davis said involving students in decision-making empowered them. At South Newton, kids regularly meet with the principal about ideas they have for the school and even sit in on interview committees for new teachers and guidance counselors.
“They were a little reluctant at first because traditionally, school is about the adults being in charge,” Davis said. “But the more we’ve encouraged them and helped them find their natural gifts and abilities and leadership skills, they have stepped that up and are doing a beautiful job.”
The school district hopes to expand the initiative to the other NCCS elementary schools and even the middle school within a few years, according to Davis.
“When you see it and you see what’s happening in those buildings, it is not like anything that I have ever seen in 32 years,” Moren said. “There is no way that anybody could convince me otherwise.”
“I think it could be the ‘it,’” she said. “I think it is the ‘it’ that we have been busting our tails looking for forever.”
Read full article on the Hickory Record
