Each of you are given an individual to contact regarding what they are doing in moving "The Leader in Me" across the state of Alabama. Share what you learn. (begin contacting these individuals NOW) Post due October 28, 2012 by midnight.
Chapter 6: Rippling Across the Globe
Moving past A.B. Combs, this chapter highlights other elementary schools that have adopted "The Leader in Me".
Rebecca - Dr. Terri Boman, University of Alabama Inservice Center Director tboman@bamaed.ua.edu
Jameon - Mr. Dwight Jinright, University of Montevallo Inservice Center Director jinrightd@montevallo.edu
Vanessa - Mrs. Charlotte Feigley, Athens State University Inservice Center Asst. Director charlotte.feigley@athens.edu
April - Dr. Nancy Curry, Madison County Schools ncurry@madison.k12.al.us
Dana- Mr. Dale Hancock, Principal Nelson Elementary School dhancock@scottsboroschools.net
William - Mr. Chad Smith, Franklin Covey Representative - chad.smith@franklincovey.com
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ReplyDeleteAs the Inservice Center Director at the University of Montevallo, how are you spreading the works of The Leader In Me across the state of Alabama?
DeleteHello, Mr. Hatcher. I apologize for the delayed reply.
I have actively promoted TLIM process with all of our school systems. I have conducted overviews of the process for both faculties and parental groups upon request. Addtionally, I paid for educators within our region to attend the symposium in Athens last year and plan to do the same again this year. For those school systems who choose to implement TLIM, I or someone with whom I contract, provide training in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People to the faculty and staff at no charge to the school (other than their purchase of participant manuals). In our region, we currently have 9 schools that have been trained and are in various stages of implementation of TLIM. We also have two additional schools who are now completing the book study and hope to go through 7 Habits training before next August.
I hope this helps. Good luck with your research.
We currently have
Dwight Jinright, EdS
Assistant Director
Regional In-Service Education Center
University of Montevallo
2790 Pelham Parkway
Pelham, AL 35124
Phone: 205.358.8543
Fax: 205.358.8788
Cell: 205.965.0963
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It was good of Mr. Jinwright to share the work in the Pelham area. Sounds like he is trying to spread TLIM to as many schools as are willing to receive it. I am curious to know more about how the whole TLIM system works, start to finish, as far as the training steps and who pays for the training. I would think it is a considerable amount of money to receive this training.
DeleteThis entry is not a part of the “OFFICIAL” blog for this week but I did have a few curious thoughts and was interested on feedback if anyone had time to share.
ReplyDeleteIn reading in the book about all the success stories from all over the world, I think we are all convinced that this is a system that seems to work very well when implemented with a trained, enthusiastic staff. This is a program that takes struggling schools and makes them better and even takes good schools and makes them better, too. And this week we are learning how this program will be implemented in K-12 schools throughout the state.
I was wondering how it would work if the Leader in Me philosophy were to be implemented at our school? If not the entire campus, what about just the School of Education or even the Department of REECSE? Wouldn’t that be exciting if our department were to lead the charge in making the change in AAMU becoming more leadership-based? How would it feel if other universities and colleges were visiting our campus/department to learn how we are molding leaders, increasing test results, and making monumental changes in individuals? I know enrollment is down this year for AAMU. Wouldn’t it be incredible if things could be turned to a positive direction for AAMU? We have a good school but what if it could be better? Just think, people describe how they feel when they visit AB Combs and other schools. What if people could feel the difference in our department, just by entering our building, coming down the hall, asking students questions, and inquiring about our program?
I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced any of these thoughts or if you had any thoughts of your own to share?
Rebecca,
DeleteI read this last week when you posted but was not in a place to respond. I would LOVE to do a book study, provide 7 Habits Training and then be the model for other colleges and universities. That's my "real gig" and I will talk to Dr. Martin about the possibility. Perhaps others can share with the Dean and your professors about the impact this book and the principles can have. Let's get the ball rolling.
I was assigned to contact Dr. Terri Boman at the University of Alabama In-service Center. Unfortunately, Dr. Boman has been out with the flu all week, but she is doing better and expected to return to the work force next week. In her absence, I was able to speak with Rhonda Willmon, an Office Associate in the In-service Center. Ms. Willmon was only somewhat familiar with the current Leader in Me program status but she did share with me a list of 10 elementary and middle schools in the area that are currently participating in the Leader In Me program.
ReplyDeleteOn the list provided by Ms. Willmon, was University Place Elementary School, the first school Dr. Boman worked with in the Tusculoosa area.University Place is under the leadership of Dr. Deron Cameron, Principal. University Place started the Leader In Me Program in July 2009. When the school was demolished by a tornado in April 2011, the Leader In Me program continued to lead and guide the school as students were relocated to another building. This summer, University Place Elementary was named a Lighthouse School. Their Lighthouse Ceremony was held today, October 26, 2012. There are some great videos of the students singing and dancing about the 7 Habits at this link: http://vimeo.com/universityplace .
I hate you couldn't talk to Dr.Boman. She is VERY committed to the process and is also a facilitator for the 7 Habits training. They are doing great things in the UA area. I'm glad you were able to gleam some info. I think it's important for us to know that this can and is happening in Alabama. By the way, there will be a Leader in Me Symposium in February in Athens. I wish you all could attend. Some of you will be participating in student internship!!!!
DeleteFirstly, I want to see that it seems like the systems works all to well. Almost like a cult. I am not denying that the system will not or does not work. They just laid it on real thick if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we have a good school, I’ll even say that we have a great school. But there’s always room for improvement. Implementing the leadership process at our school is a fantastic idea. As a matter of fact I think they should enlist in a grant to get it done. The graduate students could get a graduate assistanceship to be trained on the 7 Habits then implement the system throughout the department. Then go on to train other graduate students in other departments.
I cannot say that thought didn’t cross my mind but I didn’t give any serious thought until now.
Haven't thought about a grant...great thought! Yes, I get your point about the book presenting the system in a heavy-handed manner. It does seem to work though . . .
DeleteThe book is giving the BEST part of the system. But I have seen it in action and it DOES work. Perhaps we should take a field trip to one of the schools in Decatur. Anybody up for a road trip?
DeleteMr. Dale Hancock,
ReplyDeleteI am a student at Alabama A&M University. We are studying The Leader in Me program. I would really appreciate it if you would let me know your opinion of this program. How many schools in your area are using this program? Has it had a positive effect on the students? The staff? Why did you decide to use this program? Does it support your mission statement?
Any information you can give me regarding what you are doing to move "The Leader in Me" across the state of Alabama will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Dana Pradhan
Dana,
Scottsboro City Schools currently has two schools modeling The Leader in Me. We have 2 additional schools who are going through the process of book study and visiting other TLIM schools this year.
We can already see a difference with the emphasis on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People being emphasized. Students love to lead. We see students who are shy or introverts taking leadership roles and blossoming. Discipline referrals have decreased compared to this time last year. The thing I like about this model is it gives kids confidence. Confidence will carry over in all aspects of their lives. Parents are sending me emails and posting tweets about their child practicing these habits at home. This is one of our objectives is to teach it here and have our students teach it at home.
It starts with the staff. Since our 7 Habits training I am seeing a difference in how the staff interacts with each other and their students/parents. The few who were sceptic about going through it are now giving testimonies of how it has impacted them personally. The BEST thing about our training is we are all using the same vocabulary school wide.
I have been a Covey fan for years. I believe that the exposure to the 7 Habits would benefit any organization. I was a high school principal and saw first hand the lack of student leadership in different aspects of the school. We had some strong leaders, but not enough of them. It needs to be taught at the elementary level and emphasised at the middle and high schools.
Our mission statement is to "Maximize the learning of all students". The Leader in Me gives us the tools to teach students to be leaders of themselves first before leading others.
I hope this helps.
Lead on!
Dale Hancock
Glad you got your response on time. People really seem to be excited about the 7 Habits. I am truly excited that this system is working for all of these schools.
DeleteIt would seem that every school that heartily tries the 7 Habits has success. I think I am going to give the 7 habits books to my family for Christmas so we can all get on board. My son took the training in 6th Grade but I think he is due for a refresher course. It is interesting that the mission statement is to "Maximize the learning of all students". I would be interested to know a few examples of exactly how the 7 Habits plays a role in that. Glad you heard back from your representative.
DeleteWOW!!! I think that's an excellent idea.
DeleteMr. Hancock in on the Governing Board for the AAMU/UAH Inservice Center (my real gig). He is so excited about the 7 Habits and was recently trained to be a facilitator. He will make a difference as I am sure his school will as well.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteThe person i was suppose to contact was Mrs. Charlotte Feigley but for some reason she never got my emails. After not being successful with the email i called her and asked her the question for our assignment. Emails still never worked after talking to her but luckly i got some information while talking to her on the phone the first time i contacted her.
Mrs. Feigley said that 4 years ago she started to help spread The Leader in Me across Alabama. Mrs. Feigley talked about there being four schools in Athens trained to be leader in me schoold but only 3 are actually using the leader in me training. She talked about there being 4 light house schools in the state of Alabama. One light house school is in Moltun, AL and another one is in Decatur, AL. Two more light house schoools while becoming this year and they will be in Athens,AL. Mrs. Feigley explained that a light house school is a model school that people from around the world can visit in order to see what a Leader In Me school is like. She also said that lots of schools will begin to give training to the students parents soon. Athens state will soon start to offer a course that will deal with the book Seven Habits.
Mrs. Feigley discussed that the book Seven habits is provided and then training takes place. After training takes place then a vision is done with the 7 habits training. Implementation training is done with pre-k through 12th grade teachers. She also talked about teachers paying $1,000 a year for membership and all the tools that they received with their membership.I enjoyed my talk with Mrs. Feigley but wish we could have emailed because i feel i couldn't write every goood thing that she had to say.
I'm glad Mrs. Feigley took the time to discuss how the training takes place. That has been one question I have had. I contacted the University of Alabama In-service Center and one of their schools also received Lighthouse status recently. University Place Elementary School in Tuscaloosa had their Lighthouse ceremony last Friday. Maybe Alabama will become just one BIG lighthouse for the nation! Wouldn't that be cool for us to be on top for once instead of on bottom?!
DeleteWhat Charlote didn't say was that she is the reason this is taking off in Alabama! Remind me in class and I'll share more about her role in this process.
DeleteI have contacted Mrs. Curry with Madison City Schools and she is willing to talk with me but it will be this week before I will hear from her.
ReplyDeleteResponse from
ReplyDeleteJenna Estep
Client Partner Assistant
FranklinCovey | Education
William,
I hope you are doing great today! I am contacting you on behalf of Chad Smith with FranklinCovey. Thank you for connecting with us. Chad was very excited to hear that Alabama students are reaching out to him. Chad is traveling extensively visiting schools, but asked me to connect with you to answer your questions and help with anything that I can. I have answered your questions below in red:
If a person decided to participate into your program to implement it in their school, what has been the average time of the first signs of a turnaround in the school?
Answer: Once a school enters into The Leader in Me process it is very common to see high success rates within the first year, if not sooner. In The Leader in Me book, it shares with you the schools' success in not only higher test scores, but lower discipline referrals, and higher student morale.
Also, would “The leader in me” teachings be applicable to my personal life?
Answer: Yes, most definitely. With The Leader in Me being based off of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People the teachings are woven into everyday lives of not only the students, but the teacher. In fact, for this model to be successful, it has to start with the teacher. It is about leadership from every aspect of the school, from Bus Drivers to Superintendents. Weaving the 7 Habits into your personal life encompasses what The Leader in Me is.
Lastly, how is the program presently being implemented across the state of Alabama?
Answer: Alabama is a wonderful state modeling The Leader in Me! There are close to 85 schools implementing the model across the state, with heavy implementation in North Alabama. One of our first three Lighthouse Schools is in Alabama. They are great models of the process.
Please let me know if you have any other questions or if I can help you with anything else!
Thank you,
Jenna Estep
Client Partner Assistant
FranklinCovey | Education
Phone: 901-218-7833
jenna.estep@franklincovey.com
I was assigned Dr. Terri Boman who is an interim director of the University of Alabama/University of West Alabama In-service Education Center. Beforehand Dr. Boman served as the center’s associate director. The In-service Education Center is one of eleven state regional centers whose purpose is to provide professional development to K-12 educators in designated public school districts in its geographic region. The In-service Center houses the following: the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative; Science in Motion; the Alabama Reading Initiative; and Technology in Motion. Dr. Boman also served on the planning committee for the Alabama Governor’s Summit for Mathematics and Science Education in 2006. She is currently an executive board member of the Alabama Staff Development Council and the Alabama Science Teachers Association.
ReplyDeleteThis was the email I sent Dr. Boman
Hello Dr. Terri Boman
My name is Trenecia Mitchell and I am currently a student at Alabama A&M University and my class is studying The Leader in Me program. I would be gratefully appreciate it if you would let me know your personal opinion on The Leader in Me program. There are many questions that I have and some of them are: How many schools in your area are using this program? Which schools in Tuscaloosa that are lighthouse schools that you are associated with and also do you have any plans to make more schools in your area light house schools? I also would also like to know the effect that the programs are having on the students as well as the staff in your area? My final question would be that being the director of University of Alabama/University of West Alabama In-service Education Center have you and your staff extended or willing to extend the leader in me program to some of the rural counties surrounding the Tuscaloosa area?
Thank you,
Trenecia Mitchell
Dr. Curry,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. If you could just answer a couple of questions for me in an email would be great.
1.What has the Leader in Me meant to you?
2. Do you know of any specific stories of change that has been the result of the Leader in Me program?
3. What are you doing to spread the inspiration from this program throughout Alabama?
You can just email your responses to me. Thank you so much for helping me with this. I know you are so busy so I can not express my gratitude for taking the time for me. I look forward to reading your responses. Please don't feel that you have to share a long response or answer, just share what you feel.
Thank You Again,
April McCurry
1.) Our system has just begun the journey of Leader in Me. I read the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, several years ago. However, I had not heard of the Leader in Me until 3 years ago when I became a member of the A&M Regional In-service Center Board. In attending the meetings, I heard other schools and systems talking about the Leader in Me and became interested. I spoke to some of our principals about it, but we did not really pursue any further information. However, it was something that did not leave my thoughts. In Feb. 2012, Dr. Alexander offered to pay the registration for me to attend The Leader in Me Symposium at Athens State University. Three of our Madison County principals also attended. We were greeted at the doors by students, entertained by students, students introduced the guest speakers and we got to hear from Franklin Covey presenters and others about Leader in Me. Then we boarded buses to visit Leader in Me schools. It was at that point that I became totally “hooked”! When I saw what the schools looked like (so student centered), went on tours led by students, spoke to students representing the classrooms, and saw the students (many, many of them!) in leadership roles, I knew immediately that is what I want for my grandchildren (to have those types of opportunities to lead, become confident, and be successful) and if I want that for them, then I want that for all children in Madison County! We also heard from Muriel Summers, the principal that inspired Leader in Me. The principals returned and began planning how to implement Leader in Me in their schools. One principal took a school bus full of his teachers on a tour of Leader in Me schools each month until all had a chance to visit. He allowed us to use the additional seats on his buses to send district leaders, other principals, and teachers from other schools as well. By summer 2012, five (out of 26) of our schools began the training needed to implement Leader in Me and are in the midst of their first year of implementation. Three more schools have come on board and are just a few months behind the first five (which includes 1 high school). Two other high schools and three middle schools are using 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens in student classes. Fourteen of our schools are doing book studies of the Leader in Me. There is momentum and interest. The funding source is the “bear” in all this. We talk to politicians, business and community leaders to try to get the financial support needed for this endeavor especially for the first year of implementation – which is the most expensive.
ReplyDeleteI work with all our schools and my first responsibility deals with AYP, test results, school improvement, student achievement, etc. That has been our focus for many years now. However, that does not account for the “whole child” and other skills that are needed to be successful in life, family, and work in addition to academic skills we are so focused on. Leader in Me helps us as educators to focus on aspects of character building which are just as important as the academics in living life successfully and well. It helps us to bring a balance back to the education of our children and by doing so brings balance to the students and ourselves as well. At a meeting recently, we were asked this question. When your children grow up and they bring home “the one” to meet the parents, what do the parents think about first? Do they first think, I wonder what their grade point average is or what their ACT test score is? Or do they think, I wonder what kind of character this person has – the person that could possibly be the parent of my grandchildren? Are they honest, trustworthy, reliable, responsible, caring? Will they be a good spouse to my child and a good parent to my grandchildren? Which do you think will be most important to you when that time comes? We need to address all the important aspects of a good and balanced education for our children. That is what Leader in Me means to me.
2.) There are many stories of change because of Leader in Me. I see it in the buildings when I visit, I see it in teachers’ classrooms, I hear it in the language, I feel the renewed energy emanating from the schools where the Leader in Me is being implemented. The changes have to occur in the adults in our schools first before we can work on the hearts and minds of our students – our heads and hearts have to be in the right place first and that is part of the beauty of this whole process – not only do we see changes in students, but we see changes in teachers as well. However, the following is my favorite Leader in Me “change story” so far. I mentioned that we have one high school involved in this first phase of implementation. The high school is rural with our lowest graduation and academic rate in the system. Some of the teachers there have given up on the students and unknowingly, on themselves as well. I have worked with the school for several years with AYP issues so I know the teachers and some of the issues the school deals with also. One of the teachers there was ready to retire at the end of 2012 and had not been happy with and at work for quite some time. She was asked to take one of the bus trips I mentioned and did so very reluctantly. At the first school, I spoke to her and with arms crossed she barely grunted at me – apparently not very happy with the trip. By the time, we got to the second school, the crossed arms became uncrossed and I noted that she was paying more attention. By the third and last school visit of the day, she was asking some questions and seemed more engaged. When we returned to our system, I got off the bus first to greet and thank the participants for their time and attendance. When this particular teacher got off the bus, she shook my hand and said that she had decided not to retire after all. She said that the Leader in Me was what the students at her high school needed and that she had to stay long enough to see that it get implemented for the students. And she is doing just that! She, indeed, did not retire and she has become a teacher leader and advocate for the Leader in Me at her school. She works with her colleagues to inspire them with her passion and she truly believes that the Leader in Me can change the culture of the school to one of hope, determination, and accomplishment despite economic circumstances, home life, and the odds seemingly being stacked against the students. She changed and she is helping to change the mindset of other teachers as well. What an opportunity of serving the students she would have missed had she not taken that bus trip!
ReplyDelete3.) I don’t know that I am really doing much to spread the inspiration of Leader in Me throughout Alabama, but I am doing what I can in my little part of the world here in Madison County. I work with all Madison County schools in one capacity or another. I tell principals, assistant principals, teachers, and anyone listening about Leader in Me. I am sincerely enthusiastic about it and sometimes enthusiasm is contagious. I have spoken to our district leaders about it and got them to go on some of the trips with us last spring. I speak to Board members and a few are truly interested. I buy the books and give them out to my colleagues to read. I work with our system Reading Coaches and bring the information to them. I teach graduate classes and have included the Leader in Me during some point in the classes I teach. I contact politicians, community and business leaders to ask for support of our efforts. Because of my position at the Central Office level, I am often in meetings with district level educators from other systems and I talk to them about Leader in Me. I help the schools set up trainings and at times work with the Franklin Covey people as a liaison between them and our schools. I attend as many of the trainings as my work will allow. This is not part of my job description so I do this as the ‘extra” I give back tothe system and the children of Madison County. I want to know that when I retire that I had a small part in doing something really important for our children. It is a legacy I want to quietly leave for our future.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I am trying to live the 7 Habits myself because if I do not “walk” it then my “talk” will not mean much. I tell my friends, my family, teacher friends from other states about it. I work with my own grandchildren with the 7 Habits – even the 2 year old! They receive Leader in Me and 7 Habits books from me as Christmas and birthday gifts. Leader in Me is a missing piece of the education puzzle that we are constantly trying to rework and put together for our students. It is needed and vital to fulfilling our obligation as educators to teaching the “whole” child.
Nancy Curry, Ed.D.
NBCT
School Improvement/Reading Specialist
Madison County Schools
256-852-2557 Ext. 1716
I know that this is past the deadline but I just wanted to share with everyone Dr. Curry’s response. She is so passionate about education and about the Leader in Me. I love the way she is trying to incorporate this into her personal life! She definitely gave me an idea for Christmas gifts! How great is the story about the change in the teacher once she saw the impact this had on the students at the school she was visiting. I hope everyone enjoys Dr. Curry’s response as much as I did.
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