Young Leaders Nurtured In Riverhead

RIVERHEAD, NY — Young leaders were nurtured in Riverhead recently.

Educators and parents alike shared in the Riverhead Central School District’s Riley Avenue Elementary School’s “Leader in Me” pilot program during the school’s first Leadership Day on Feb. 7, the district said.

As part of the event, students utilized new skills they had acquired through the initiative, such as public speaking, eye contact and data tracking, to present attendees with a tour of classrooms that have employed the program, the district added.

The Leader in Me program, spearheaded by second-grade teacher Lauren McDonald, "weaves comprehensive leadership activities and challenges into the curriculum. The goal is to teach students life skills such as responsibility, accountability, problem-solving, adaptability, communication and teamwork," the district said.

All of the activities and challenges presented in the program are based on Stephen Covey’s books “The Leader in Me” and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” and Sean Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Happy Kids," district officials added.

Leadership Day concluded with a question-and-answer session during which teachers learned how to incorporate the program into their classrooms and parents were provided with a guide for employing the techniques at home.

Photo courtesy of the Riverhead Central School District.