Lady Leadership brings Leader in Me Program to Life at Maple Grove Elementary
Maple Grove’s Leader in Me program goes above and beyond by using techniques that not only intrigue students, but get them excited about leadership and the 7 Habits: Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, Put First Things First, Think Win-Win, Seek First to Understand, Then be Understood, Synergize and Sharpen the Saw.
Maple Grove Counselor, Jennifer Neal, dresses up as ‘Lady Leadership’ at all of their school assemblies. Each assembly she magically appears and rides in on the royal Covey Carriage. Along with her princess attire, kindergarteners participate by dressing as the eight habit mascots -a parody of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs.
Each habit has been assigned an animal mascot which includes a special costume and name. The eight mascots are: The Be Proactive Porcupine, Begin with the End in Mind Bear, First Things First Frog, The Win-Win Wabbit, Seek First to Understand Skunk, Synergize Squirrel, Sharpen the Saw Beaver and the Find your Sunshine Sun.
The habits took individual photos that were made into trading cards to create a positive reward system for students. When a teacher notices a student doing their work, helping a friend, walking quietly in the hall or participating in silent work-time, the student has the opportunity to earn a positive punch on their PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Supports) punch-card. Once the punch-card is full students can trade in it for two habit trading cards. The goal for each student is to collect all eight habits by then end of the year.
Students who have achieved collecting all eight cards are put into a raffle at the end of the year for a chance to win a five-course lunch with Lady Leadership herself.
“I feel like our guidance counselor is going completely above and beyond to do this each month. The excitement on our kid’s faces regarding her and the trading cards, is like seeing Disney World for the first time,” said Maple Grove Principal, Kim Tierney.
Each trading card includes a picture, explains the habit and include a few words from Lady Leadership.
“I delight in striving to model what it means to lead, learn and impact our world for all of the majestic leaders at Maple Grove Elementary,” said Lady Leadership.
Bringing in the element of fairytale has enchanted the students at Maple Grove and inspired the to continuously set good examples and become leaders in their school.
“The Leader in Me program inspires students to be leaders by teaching them skills that will carry them through life,” said Neal. “They learn how to make goals, problem solve, synergize, and strengthen relationships.”
About Leader in Me
The Leader in Me is an approach to creating an environment of leadership in our schools. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People are integrated into our school traditions, systems, curriculum and culture, and work in close connection with our school-wide PBIS, our guidance curriculum and 21st Century Skills. The Leader in Me and the 7 Habits emphasize skills to help students be successful outside our classroom walls.
Everyone is a leader in his or her own way! We believe that every child possesses leadership skills, but needs time to learn about how to be an effective leader and must be taught how to collaborate with other students and adults.
- Be Proactive
- Begin with the End in Mind
- Put First Things First
- Think Win-Win
- Seek first to Understand, Then be Understood
- Synergize
- Sharpen The Saw
