Leadership Class

Perhaps you're wondering what the subject is that I am teaching? We're calling the elective class "Leadership" and that's what it's all about. It is for 8th grade students - we have 27 signed up for the first day of school.

So what is Leadership and how can we teach it to 13 year old students? We've searched for material on the subject that is relevant to this age group, but don't see a lot of material for people this young. Once aspect of our school-wide model is based on Steven Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, but there's so much more to it than that. The lack of material on the subject seems odd to me. We've spoken to many people - parents, administrators, staff, students and EVERYONE seems to really dig what we're trying to do. I don't mind that we're entering a new frontier; that's okay, we don't mind being pioneers!

Much of what we've planned thus far will involve the students being given leadership opportunities in a format where they can experiment, fail and strengthen their skills. Think of it like a sandbox where it's safe to try something and have it flop or come out smelling like roses. In both cases we learn what it means to be a leader and that's really at the heart of what we're trying to do.

Wish us luck as we begin to develop course content.