Program Targets Budding Leaders
After-school program cultivates youths’ skills
11:47 AM CST on Tuesday, January 26, 2010
By Britney Tabor / Staff Writer
Each
person has the ability and potential to be a leader, says Cassandra Berry,
superintendent of Legends Academy.
To
drive that message home, the Denton charter school began the Leadership
Development Institute, a weekly after-school program that grooms students to
become a positive influence in the community.
Tim Owens
of The Owens Group, an organizational training and development firm, speaks to
students about the importance of respect at a recent meeting of the Leadership
Development Institute, an after-school program at the Legends Academy.
Since
the fall, an average of 10 students have attended the Wednesday sessions led by
Tim Owens, a managing partner and lead trainer for The Owens Group, an
organizational training and development firm.
Berry
said the lessons let students see themselves as leaders, positioning them to
“take on leadership roles inside and outside the school.”
“Sometimes
we get these nuggets of information that we don’t use immediately, but somewhere
down the road in life, there may be nuggets that they learned from this
experience that help them,” Berry said.
The
institute was formed out of Owens’ offer to meet weekly with students after
speaking to classes earlier this school year.
Berry
said she was familiar with Owens’ more than 15 years of experience in offering
a local life skills program for teens that encourages mature behavior, so she
accepted the offer.
For
more than an hour weekly, Owens leads exercises with students to show them leadership
characteristics.
Recently,
students participated in an exercise where they were encouraged to select one
of four animals — lion, chimpanzee, horse or owl — that they best related to.
Students huddled in groups to discuss the characteristics of the chosen animal,
and other specimens their animal either did or did not get along with, and why.
Owens
told students the exercise demonstrated that in life they will have to interact
with people who may not share their ideas, processes or opinions, yet they must
find ways to work together.
The
sessions also offer time for students to express issues they’re troubled about
and seek solutions.
“We
try to cultivate the leadership potential of the student, especially those that
are told, ‘You’re not good enough,’” Owens said. “We want to teach them that
they have the ability to have influence, positive influence, as opposed to
negative.”
Occasionally,
successful business or influential community leaders attend the sessions,
sharing their life stories, what they do for a living and tools for success.
Most
recently, accountant John Baines, who is also the treasurer of the Denton Black
Chamber of Commerce, led a session encouraging students to get a good
education, learn a foreign language, possess a good moral backing, learn to
work and show others what they’re capable of doing.
Students
who regularly attend said they like the sessions.
“I
think it will be great for a lot more people to get involved in,” said
eighth-grader Daphne Mantle. “It’s a good program, and we’re getting involved
in a lot of things that a lot of people would be interested in.”
Daphne
said the after-school program has been educational and fun, and has taught her
how to interact with people from diverse backgrounds.
Owens
and Berry said the institute has sparked a student-led campuswide campaign to
increase the level of respect for others.
One
idea circulating is to purchase T-shirts to spread the message. Students in the
institute also have been encouraged to display the letter “R” in sign language
when they feel someone deserves respect.
Eighth-grader
Taelor Williams said she’s learned that respect first starts with herself
before it’s shown to others. Through the campaign and what she’s learned
through the institute, she hopes students can make their school a better place.
“I
feel like it’s good … that we can help make a change in the school,” she said.
BRITNEY
TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com