Bermuda Secretary of Education Valerie Robinson-James visited two of Fayette’s “Leader in Me” elementary schools to see first-hand how they are using the program to create a culture of student empowerment based on the program’s idea that every child can be a leader.
Spring Hill Elementary and Sara Harp Minter Elementary hosted her May 10. She spent time talking with students, teachers and administrators about how the schools are implementing “Leader in Me” philosophies, and how introducing the program has impacted student behavior and academic achievement.
Fayette has four out of 14 elementary schools that are using “The Leader in Me” program. In addition to Spring Hill and Sara Harp Minter, the other two schools are Braelinn Elementary and Fayetteville Elementary. Just this year, “The Leader in Me” program awarded its highest and most coveted honor to Spring Hill by designating it a “Lighthouse School” for successfully meeting nine stringent standards required for the designation. Spring Hill was the first school in the county, and one of just three in Georgia, to earn the designation.
“The Leader in Me” is a whole school transformation process that teaches 21st-century leadership and life skills to students. It provides a logical, sequential and balanced process to help schools proactively design the culture that reflects their vision of the ideal school.
Content from “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is a key component of the overall “Leader in Me” process. “The 7 Habits” is a synthesis of universal, timeless principles of personal and interpersonal effectiveness, such as responsibility, vision, integrity, teamwork, collaboration and renewal, which are secular in nature and common to all people and cultures. The process also teaches students the skills needed for academic success in any setting. These skills include critical thinking, goal setting, listening and speaking, self-directed learning, presentation making, and the ability to work in groups.
