Phases like “best PD ever” and “inspiring” were heard numerous times this week from teachers and staff at the Allen County Intermediate Center (ACIC) during a four-day Leader in Me professional development training presented by Muriel Summers---the founder of the nationally-acclaimed program.
“This week has been so transformational,” explained ACIC educator Derick Marr. “This is going to be a game-changer for our kids. Leader in Me teaches timeless skills that can be applied anywhere. I believe we are going to see some great changes in our school system and our community.”
Marr’s colleague Lori Tabor added that many positive changes will be coming to the school.
“This has lit a fire,” Tabor said. “It’s going to be something that will be very positive for our school. You are going to see a lot of changes. Your will see changes in the kids, the teachers, the attitudes, and physical changes at the school. You will see changes about the passion everyone has for education. Having Muriel Summer lead this workshop has been very inspiring.”
Summers shared how Leader in Me was created almost 17 years ago at Raleigh, North Carolina’s A.B. Combs Elementary School. Summers was the principal at the time---a position she still holds---and recalled that change was needed. Having attended a seminar for author Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Summers believed those concepts could be adapted in a culture-makeover program for her school.
“We needed to reinvent ourselves,” Summers said. “We were a low-performing school. We had only 315 students and there were many opportunities for growth. I felt like if we could teach the habits to young children how different their lives might be. We looked to his work to redesigning our school. We started teaching be proactive and beginning with the end in mind. We started to give children leadership responsibilities. We started to believe that every child processed unique gifts and abilities and we worked hard to find out what children were interested in. We started to cultivate that. The results were astounding.”
By 2006, A.B. Combs had gone from a school with its back against the wall seven years earlier to national academic prominence. Their success was shared with others. Today, Leader in Me extends around the globe.
“Leader in Me started with Combs and eight schools from around the country,” Summers added. “Then it started to grow. Currently, over 2,000 schools around the world are implementing this work. Kentucky has been an amazing state in terms of adopting and embracing this and the results are pretty outstanding. Mr. Holland (ACIC principal) wanted to bring this to his staff and Superintendent (Randall) Jackson also has the vision to bring this to the district. Their support has been wonderful to watch, to see that kind of amazing leadership. Then, the teachers—the teachers are so primed for this work. They are one of the most dynamic staffs I have ever worked with.”
The ACIC teachers and staff will be taking their training to the students as soon as school starts August 5.
“This week has been very inspiring,” explained ACIC educator Lesa Francis. “I’m looking forward to bring Leader in Me to my classroom.”
The school will soon be putting a leadership team of teachers in place that will guide the program at the school. Students will see the concepts in action in the classroom from the moment they arrive on the first day of school. Parents and the community are also expected to become involved as the school year progresses.