Students at Leavelle-McCampbell Middle School are learning leadership skills in the school’s new Leader in Me program.
Dr. Tiffany Hall, principal of LMMS, said students are enjoying and responding well to the program. LMMS is the first middle school in Aiken County to offer Leader in Me.
Based on author Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” the Leader in Me program teaches students about being proactive, making plans, working with others and making positive choices.
Every morning, students work in their Leader in Me journals and complete an activity related to leadership habits, Hall said.
Hall said that in the mornings, she goes over the positive habit that students are working on that day, often providing personal examples.
When Hall was growing up, her report cards would often say she was having trouble in school. LMMS PTO member Kim Waters said this story helped her son understand learn a new perspective.
“My son was talking about how it wasn’t always easy for her,” Waters said. ”... To hear her actually tell that it’s okay not to know where you are, but to work towards being better, to be a leader, he said, ‘Oh, it just put it in perspective.’”
Waters said the Leader in Me program means a lot to her as a parent. The program reinforces the life lessons parents teach their children at home, she said.
Another new development at LMMS is a partnership with USC Aiken, funded by a $598,000 21st Century Grant. USCA students pursuing careers in teaching can get paid jobs working with students at LMMS.
“Hopefully, they’ll [USCA students] love it so much, that they’re going to stay in education,” Hall said.
With the partnership, Hall said LMMS students can receive free after-school tutoring and enrichment, such as leadership clubs, for the next four years.
Several community businesses will visit the school’s leadership clubs this year, Hall said.
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