Both Newton Parrish and Sutton elementary schools have earned the Franklin Covey Leader In Me designation of a lighthouse school. This status is the highest achievement a school that participates in the Leader In Me’s Seven Habits program can receive.
“We are extremely proud to achieve Lighthouse Status. We will continue to teach leadership principles and provide a learning culture that enables students to LEAD and GROW,” said Danna Johnson, Sutton principal.
“The process for Newton Parrish began through the Race to the Top Grant. We took advantage of the free professional development offered through Franklin Covey and GREEC. This is our final year of the grant and we decided to take the leap of faith to see if our students, parents and staff had implemented the criteria for lighthouse,” said Steve Bratcher, Newton Parrish principal.
There are several schools that are Leader in Me Schools, which practice the seven habits. Lighthouse schools achieve a certain level of implementation based on the Core Paradigms (these are the schools that shift the following paradigms). A lighthouse school implements practices that promote the following changes:
- Paradigm of Leadership– as a whole we truly believe that everyone can be a leader.
- Paradigm of Potential– as a whole we truly believe everyone has genius.
- Paradigm of Change– as a whole we truly believe that change starts with me.
- Paradigm of Motivation– as a whole we truly believe that educators empower students to lead their own learning.
- Paradigm of Education– as a whole we truly believe that education needs to develop the whole person.
“The certification means that we have and will continue to shift our thoughts in how we teach leadership principles, develop a leadership culture and align academic systems. Going through this formal evaluation from Franklin Covey has allowed us to gain valuable feedback on what our areas of strengths and celebration are and areas for continuous growth,” added Bratcher.
“Soon after implementation of the Leader in Me, we began to see immediate benefits throughout our school. Students are learning to work together, taking ownership of their learning and are acquiring leadership skills through the intentional process provided through the program. There is a belief at Sutton that everyone has the ability to lead and all students have leadership opportunities,” added Johnson.
