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Students build leadership skills at Wilkins Elementary Leader In Me school
Whether it’s in the classroom or at home, kids are learning leadership by prioritizing their assigned responsibilities and looking out for each other
Oct. 31, 2022 11:14 am, Updated: Oct. 31, 2022 12:05 pm
MARION — Every child is finding their voice, building confidence and learning to be a leader at Wilkins Elementary School.
The school is one of 5,000 schools in the United States and across 50 countries to adopt the “Leader In Me” curriculum, an evidence-based school model that builds leadership and life skills for students lays the foundation for sustained academic achievement.
At Wilkins Elementary, each student is a leader by taking responsibility for their classroom job.
Third-grader Jocelyn Badker, 8, sharpens pencils every day for all of her classmates. “It makes me feel proud of myself,” she said. At home, Jocelyn is a leader by helping with the dishes and laundry.
Dale Wrage, 9, keeps track of when the class gets “Brownie points.” Brownie points can be earned, for example, by being quiet during silent reading time. Prizes include pajama day, stuffed animal day or a dance party.
Being a leader means always being on the lookout for someone who needs help, Dale said. At home, Dale is a leader by feeding her pet cats and unloading the dishwasher. “Even when I don’t want to do it, I put first things first,” said Dale, one of the seven habits of highly effective people, which all students learn in Leader in Me schools.
These habits, from a book by Stephen Covey titled “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” are:
- Be proactive;
- Begin with the end in mind by defining a clear measure of success and how to achieve it;
- Put first things first by prioritizing;
- Think win-win to collaborate more effectively and build trusting relationships;
- Seek first to understand, then be understood;
- Synergize by developing innovative solutions to satisfy key stakeholders;
- And “sharpen the saw,“ which means increasing motivation, energy and work-life balance by making time for renewing activities.
Wilkins Elementary School is in their third year as a Leader In Me school. Third grade teacher Katie Jackson said every student is learning they have the potential to be a leader.
“It’s helping them become more independent problem solvers,” Jackson said. “They are able to work together to fix dilemmas and problems in the classroom and in their own lives.”
Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com
Wilkins Elementary School third-grade class taught by Katie Jackson. The students are learning responsibility and leadership in the new Leader In Me classroom model. (Grace King/The Gazette)
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