With the present international crisis clearly in our midst, the significance of national, regional, municipal and local leadership has never been more critical. But where do such leaders come from? This is why some believe that teaching is the greatest profession! Why? Because teachers and administrators develop, nurture and inspire the future leaders of our world. At Ignite, we are doing our part! We deeply believe that the leaders we are developing today will play important roles in their future fields of endeavor tomorrow!
Earlier this month we gave students their first taste of representative democracy.
Our new student council is composed of 2 elected student officers from their homeroom classes. Each of our 23 homeroom classes of Grades 1-8 elected a president and vice president to represent them on the larger student council body and to assist their peers and teachers with leadership oriented tasks. These tasks include: helping to mediate disputes, appointing and monitoring committee members in consultation with their homeroom teachers to serve their classes, grades and school as a whole, and creating and debating activities and issues of relevance to our school.
Although some students clearly arrive at school with leadership dispositions, all future leaders need to be nurtured by their environment. We have started the first part of their leadership development journey with the 18 Middle School student leaders in Grades 5-8 with Sean Covey’s text, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers. By learning such skills as being proactive instead of reactive, focusing on goals, prioritizing actions, creating win-win scenarios, as well as seeking to understand, and then to be understood, our student leaders are developing valuable life-long skills.
Our vision at Ignite is for all young people to experience that learning has lasting value beyond their life at school. Our student leaders are beginning to truly experience this dimension of living as they attempt to influence and organize their school learning community. In time, our Ignite graduates will return to influence and organize their larger communities!
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Stephen AppeaPrincipal
Ignite School Principal
