Engage in a conversation with virtually any student at Loreburn Central School, and you鈥檙e like to find yourself chatting with young people who are deeply rooted and involved in their everyday learning and what鈥檚 happening both in and out of the classroom, the likes of which might not be seen at other schools in other communities.
For staff and students of the K-12 facility in the rural village, their approach to tackling the problems of each day 鈥� educational or not 鈥� comes from putting leadership qualities to work and applying a number of habits that call for practical solutions in order to reach desired outcomes.
Those leadership qualities were on display on Thursday, March 30 when Loreburn students and staff welcomed over 60 guests to the school for their fourth annual Leadership Day.聽 The morning-long event is organized every year by students to show parents and the visiting public their daily leadership skills, as well as how they鈥檙e applying what鈥檚 known as the Seven Habits into their lives both in and out of the classroom.
The habits include bullet points such as 鈥淏e Proactive鈥�, 鈥淏egin with the end in mind鈥�, 鈥淧ut first things first鈥�, and 鈥淭hink win-win鈥�; effective motto-like tools for the students to help them in their education, as well as finding solutions to other problems in their lives.
The Leadership Day started off with students welcoming visitors to Loreburn Central right at the main doors of the school, complete with a decorated entrance to the gymnasium that literally gave attendees the red carpet treatment.聽 The event carried a theme known as 鈥淭he Decades鈥�, including tables in the gym that had colored markers with song titles and years written on them; the 60鈥檚 table highlighted 鈥淗ey Jude鈥� by The Beatles, while the 90鈥檚 table featured 鈥淪mells Like Teen Spirit鈥� by Nirvana.
Leadership Day in Loreburn is a direct result of the 鈥淟eader in Me鈥� program, which was integrated into the school鈥檚 curriculum starting in 2012.聽 The program works to introduce change in three key areas: teaching leadership skills to students and applying them in their daily schoolwork; empowering and encouraging both students and staff to have a voice in their schools; and working to make students 鈥榓ctive agents鈥� in their learning.
The opening portion of the event saw greetings from Loreburn Central Principal Jill Long, as well as a parent鈥檚 perspective on the Leader in Me program from Lori Ann Bandura, who has been very impressed with what the program has done to affect the lives of students and families.
鈥淲hat you students are learning here is going to help you outside the borders of this school,鈥� said Lori, who works as a part-time librarian in Elbow.聽 鈥淪o much has changed in our lives due to this program.鈥�
Student presentations included music from Carter O鈥橞rien, as well as comedy from Derek Griffin.聽 As well, students Jorja Glubis and Jess Sabraw spoke about the WIGS that students have, which stands for Wildly Important Goals, as well as WIG Wednesday, where students meet each week to discuss those goals and encourage one another.
Following a musical performance by guitarist and vocalist Nicole Yakimoski and her mother, guests were led by student tour guides around the school to see how these leadership qualities and different learning techniques were being applied in each classroom.
The classroom tours were a chance for visitors to talk with the students about what they鈥檙e learning and how they鈥檙e working to become leaders.聽 In the Grade 9/10 room, students talked about applying the Seven Habits and the projects in their Leadership Class that they believe will benefit the school.聽 In another room, Grade 3 and 4 students proudly showed off their Genius Hour projects that were a result of applying the Seven Habits and allowing the students to have a voice in guiding what those projects turned out to be.聽 Meanwhile, in the Grade 5 and 6 classroom, guests could rotate through stations such as Blended Math Projects, Synergy Activity, a Rubix Cube Competition, and binders that showed off how they鈥檙e applying leadership qualities in their work.
After the tours had ended, lunch was provided to everyone, and guests were further encouraged to speak with students about the Leader in Me program and how they鈥檙e utilizing a number of factors and lessons to become older and more mature leaders as the school year rolls on.
By putting the students front and center with the annual Leadership event, staff at Loreburn Central School are undoubtedly pleased to see that the Leader in Me program is continuing to show a rewarding payoff.
