Leadership in Action
Recently, Dain Ryckman and I had a conversation about his fifth graders serving on the leadership team and how they may be applying their skills to their lives right now – so we decided to ask them! Students were given a survey that asked how they apply their leadership skills in three areas: at home, at public events and, of course, at school. We were ecstatic to see the results!
At home, several students said they help family members by doing dishes, taking out trash, cleaning their rooms, taking responsibility when they break rules, feeding the family pets, listening to their parents the first time, doing their homework, playing with their younger siblings and telling their parents what they learned at school instead of shrugging their shoulders and walking away. At public events, students said they practice not touching stuff that isn’t theirs, behaving and following rules, holding the door for others, picking up trash and being respectful.
The list of responses for the school question was equally impressive! These included listening to the teacher, picking up trash, talking to friends about their behavior, sitting in their assigned seats on the bus and following rules, being a good example regarding behavior and helping someone who gets hurt on the playground - no matter who it is.
Perhaps the most powerful underlying response was simply that our student leaders took this survey very seriously and filled the sheet with responses. How great is that! Leadership in action? You bet!
