Time transcripts of SchoolLeadershipandDefeat [00:00:00.07] Okay. Uh, my name is Collen Kent. I was the former assistant principal at [00:00:04.11] St. MIchael School last year, and it is a recollection [00:00:08.14] from that year that I'd like to share with you as far as [00:00:12.15] my bit of a story. Um, a couple years ago, I guess [00:00:16.21] at St. Michael School we had, uh, adopted the, um [00:00:20.26] as part of our accreditation plan we had adopted the use of the Leader in Me program [00:00:24.30] which incorporated the Seven Habits of Highly Effective people from Steven Covey. [00:00:28.34] Um, we went through a significant amount of training with that program [00:00:32.34] uh, which called, uh [00:00:36.35] caused the staff to join together. The staff was, uh, it was a rough year for the staff [00:00:40.41] because we had lost our principal that had been there for thirty years. So the staff was [00:00:44.44] kind of in a down mood at the beginning of the school year. [00:00:48.48] Um, that was the same time we had brought the Habits [00:00:52.49] into the school, and that was when our training and education on the Habits took place. [00:00:56.55] It was wonderful just to see the power and the passion [00:01:00.59] that those words and those Habits instilled in the staff because [00:01:04.64] um, they tap into your basic core of [00:01:08.67] fundamental values of life. "Be Proactive" [00:01:12.67] "Begin with the end in mind" "Put first things first" Those are all things that we do in our [00:01:16.74] daily lives. But to actually put those, those, uh, those routines [00:01:20.80] that we have in our life into a short phrase [00:01:24.84] it makes it so easily...um..... [00:01:28.84] [ Interviewer: Like accessible? ] Easily accessible,right, and easily recognizable at different [00:01:32.87] things that you do. In that training, it showed us [00:01:36.94] a variety of ways of how we could, uh, use these skills [00:01:40.99] in a classroom, use these skills with our kids in the classrooms, and how [00:01:45.00] we can, you know, put the kids in leadership positions were they, too, can lead by [00:01:49.03] example. They, too, can be proactive in their lives. They, too, can [00:01:53.04] you know, put first things first and make sure they get their homework done before they go outside [00:01:57.09] and play. And just these basic, fundamental principles that sometimes you waited [00:02:01.10] to read this book until you were adult. Well, here we're putting this in the hands of our children [00:02:05.15] in our school, and it allows them to, um, to [00:02:09.19] instill these principles as a young child. So, it was fabulous. I mean, the [00:02:13.21] things we were able to do with our staff that year were great. The staff was all on [00:02:17.22] board. We were all positive about it. It was a real positive change that [00:02:21.27] uh, that came over the staff once we dug into those Habits. [00:02:25.32] Um, the following year, which was just last year, we were able to transfer these Habits [00:02:29.36] in with the kids. So the training started going on with the kids, and it was wonderful. [00:02:33.38] The kids really grabbed onto it. They were making posters. They were drawing pictures. They were [00:02:37.39] writing stories. Anything that we could do within out Catholic school to [00:02:41.45] tie in the Habits and show how our faith is revolved and based on those Habits [00:02:45.48] also, um, the teachers were really doing a great job just pulling those [00:02:49.52] fundamental things out of the kids. The kids were excited about it. They created a song. [00:02:53.52] All this, all the kids in music class got together and created a Seven Habits [00:02:57.52] song, strictly for our Catholic school, which was wonderful. [00:03:01.58] Um, the teachers, the teachers, on their own, uh got together [00:03:05.58] and created different committees, different committees that dealt with [00:03:09.58] you know, student led conferences. Another committee dealt with, um, improving the [00:03:13.58] environment of the school, like "What can we do to paint the school?" "What can we do to [00:03:17.59] put up these leadership qualities, put them on the walls?" [00:03:21.66] "What can we do to improve the look of, you know, our bathrooms?" What can.. I mean, [00:03:25.66] things just instill, to instill a source of pride around the school. It was a wonderful thing. [00:03:29.70] So this was, this was feed through out, not only the students, but the [00:03:33.73] teachers too. Even our state personnel were involved. We were [00:03:37.75] looking to have a fabulous Leadership Day at our school last year that [00:03:41.75] kind of gave the kids to showcase the leadership, uh, opportunities that they had [00:03:45.81] throughout the school. We had students that were, that lead the prayer every day, students that [00:03:49.81] led the pledge, students who ran the bus calls at the end of the day. So really [00:03:53.84] students were leaders and doing leaderships things using those Habits [00:03:57.86] that we had, um, shared with them in their lives [00:04:01.93] was, um, it was all throughout our... the course of our day with [00:04:05.98] the kids. I mean there were, leadership qualities took place throughout the [00:04:10.04] course of the day. Um, [00:04:14.07] it was prevalent, in ... it was... [00:04:18.07] It was a wonderful event that was, that was uh, that was taking place throughout the whole school year [00:04:22.08] until, through the middle of last year, until, um, [00:04:26.14] our new principal, um, who is very, very conservative [00:04:30.18] very conservative, uh, Catholic Sister, had decided that, uh [00:04:34.18] because this was, um, not fundamentally based in [00:04:38.20] our religion, she decided to not allow us to [00:04:42.21] continue that any more. She felt that, uh, for a variety of [00:04:46.25] reasons, it was more of a more secular program. And she didn't see how that fit, [00:04:50.26] kind of with our true Catholic Identity. So she decided not to have us continue with that program. [00:04:54.27] But, um, I was sorely , um [00:04:58.29] very upset that we were not able to continue with that program [00:05:02.30] as, um, it just brought the best out in almost everybody in the entire school: [00:05:06.34] students, staff, everybody. And really was a wonderful, culminating thing for [00:05:10.40] us all to look forward to, and to, a little shining light [00:05:14.44] off in the future to kind of pull us through a rough event that we had gone though with the administration [00:05:18.47] change. So, kind of a sad ending that. I think that, [00:05:22.48] um, there are a lot of schools that will be able to benefit from using that program. And I think the kids [00:05:26.54] are far better having, uh, you know, kids are far better [00:05:30.55] knowing what those Habits can bring to their lives [00:05:34.59] um, as opposed to , um, I think what our kids at St. MIchael uh, [00:05:38.62] are currently going though. So, anyway, I just thought I'd share that story. [00:05:42.62] Thank you.