On March 6, students at Cotton Indian Elementary (CIE) School demonstrated their developing leadership skills at their annual Leadership Day, a community outreach event that invites parents and representatives from neighbor schools into CIE to view their Leader in Me program firsthand.

  Tours of the school were given to guests, highlighting each grade level’s bulletin boards featuring writing and art on the topic of ‘How can I change the world?’ Classroom mission statements and student leadership notebooks were also displayed.

  At the conclusion of the event, the CIE cheerleaders, the 2nd grade drama students and the chorus performed for family and friends. 

  “We use Leadership Day to invite the community in so they can see these leaders at work, the teachers and the students, in that we are trying to methodically turn the leadership over to the students,” said Amy Hembree, Cotton Indian Elementary School teacher and Community Outreach Coordinator. 

  Leadership Day is one of the requirements of the Leader in Me program that CIE must complete in their attempt to reach Lighthouse status, a benchmark certification that indicates a participating school’s outstanding achievement, according to the Leader in Me website. 

  “Cotton Indian Elementary is the only school in Henry County actually implementing what is called the Leader in Me program,” said Hembree.

  The ‘Leader in Me’ program, based on the book “The 7 Habits of Happy Kids” by Sean Covey, has been in place for about four years at the school. 

  “In my second full year here, I was approached with implementing the Leader in Me program,” said Lisa Travis, Cotton Indian Elementary School Principal. “Through research, I realized it wasn’t a program. It was a way of doing things at school.”

  The teachers at CIE incorporate the 7 Habits taught in the book into their curricula and the students demonstrate them in their daily interactions with others, be it at school or at home. 

• Habit 1- Be proactive! You’re in charge! 
• Habit 2- Begin with the End in Mind: Have a Plan
• Habit 3- Put First Things First: Work First-Then Play
• Habit 4- Think Win-Win: Everyone Can Win
• Habit 5- Seek First to Understand: Listen then Talk
• Habit 6- Synergize: Together is Better
• Habit 7- Sharpen the Saw: Balance Feels Better

  “We are empowering children with habits that they can use for the rest of their lives. Through that empowerment, they feel that they belong here, they feel like they’re an integral member of our school community and, because of that, we have seen an increase in our academic achievements,” said Travis. “So it’s about building those relationships with kids and letting them know that we believe in you, we see you, we acknowledge you and we’re going to help you do whatever you want to do and become whatever you want to become.”

  The CIE teachers are also involved in action teams that meet once a month and assist in implementing the facets of the program into the school. Those teams include Student Leadership, Sharpen the Saw, Empowering Learning and Community Outreach. 

  A new element to the program, the Leader Lab, was introduced at CIE just this year. It is a Title 1 approved special class. 

  “This year, the students attend a literacy lab called the Leader Lab, where they integrate reading, writing and leadership skills,” said Hembree. 

  Since the implementation of the Leader in Me program, Hembree has seen a significant change in the students.

  “I’ve seen some children who might have been shy come forward and be a little more confident. I’ve seen them able to engage each other in conversation,” said Hembree. “The synergizing is something we see everyday, where they have to work as a small group or as a whole class to accomplish a goal.” 

  And, as the school year progresses, the teachers and staff hope that the children continue to take the 7 Habits to heart and incorporate them into their daily lives. 

  “I’m extremely proud of our students. I think what Leader in Me has really done is we’ve allowed our kids to realize that there is a leader in all of us and that we can lead in very different ways, but all of us have the capability to be a leader,” said Travis. 

  For more information about the Leader in Me program, visit www.leaderinme.org.