Tommie Would Be Proud

An all-star cast of community and school leaders descended on Tommie Barfield Elementary School (TBE) Friday morning, March 10th for the school’s second annual Leadership Day. The adult role models seemed to envelope the student leaders in a cocoon of love and support. It was a feel-good gathering featuring the elementary school's students as the stars. And boy did the students shine, putting on a two-and-a-half-hour program that started with a presentation in the school cafeteria with three student emcees, followed by student-led campus tours, a third grade marketplace in the adjacent courtyard, and a couple of wax museum themed exhibits where TBE students portrayed famous historical leaders past and present.

The leadership program is based on the FranklinCovey Leader in Me whole-school transformation program. Friday’s program exemplifies how Tommie Barfield Elementary has bought in completely to the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People that the program espouses. In fact, the school is vying for Lighthouse certification, considered a significant benchmark in the Leader in Me program. Based on Friday’s program it’s hard to imagine how TBE could possibly be overlooked for Lighthouse certification. In fact it's hard to imagine how the program could have gone any better. But it’s easy to imagine how proud Tommie Barfield, the Marco Island pioneer and Collier County’s first superintendent of schools, would be if she could see what’s happening at her namesake school.

The seven habits are: 1) Be Proactive, 2) Begin with the End in Mind, 3) Put First Thing First, 4) Think Win-Win, 5) Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood, 6) Synergize, 7) Sharpen the Saw. The seven habits can be found throughout the school’s campus, on bulletin boards, painted on windows, as part of a directional sign, and painted on an expansive outside wall.

Both attendees and organizers were thrilled with Friday’s program.

“It was a good day,” TBE principal Alyssa Ledbetter beamed as she returned to her office at the conclusion of the program. “It was very smooth. Our students did a great job. I’m very proud of them.”

Of course students are reflections of their adult leadership. Teachers and administrators at TBE worked unobtrusively to support their student stars.

“It was incredible,” said Molly Skudnig, reading coach at TBE. "Our student leadership skills were on fire. They were just shocking us left and right. Their ability to practice and learn the leadership skills, then demonstrate them in front of an audience of complete strangers was absolutely incredible. The nerves just turned right into confidence. It was beautiful to see.”

Several team members from Lake Park Elementary took part in the program, including ESE inclusion teacher Megan Banta.

 "I was very impressed with the students,” Megan Banta said, "how well spoken they were. They made eye contact, they were shaking hands. They were acting like grown adults. It was phenomenal. I’m impressed with how the Leader in Me program is embedded in everything they’re doing.”

Three members of STARability Foundation took part in the program: Halley Kretschmer, Jason Blount, and Jen Blount. STARability’s mission is to work to transform the lives of individuals with disabilities through social, vocational, and educational connections to the community, while strengthening awareness and respect for individual abilities.

“We came today to see how we could adapt the curriculum,” said Halley Kretschmer, STARability’s vocational services manager. “We wanted to see how we can use it in our after-school program and vocation services.”

There are over 5,000 Leader in Me Schools in all 50 states and 50 countries. There are currently over 600 Leader in Me Lighthouse certified schools.

"As a Leader in Me School we have the opportunity to become a Lighthouse school,” Ledbetter said, "which would bump up our status with Leader in Me. On April 24 we will have a team coming from FranklinCovey and they will tour the school, they’ll go into classrooms, they’ll talk to kids. Then we provide them with an evidence binder that has all kinds of pictures and things that we do that shows how we utilize Leader in Me here. Then they judge and deliberate, then let us know if we become a Lighthouse School.”

In order for a school to achieve Lighthouse status, the school’s principal, school administration, and teachers have to engage in ongoing learning and develop as leaders while championing leadership for the school.  Ledbetter appears up for the challenge. She believes in and practices the Seven Habits.

“Work related,” Ledbetter said, "I think Put First Things First is my favorite one. That’s how I achieve goals. Synergy, too, I think it is very important for us all to work together - teamwork. I also try to be purposeful about Sharpening the Saw and making sure that I’m taking time for myself and for my family. Making sure that balance is there."