Students share successes at H.O. Brittingham Leadership Day

Dozens of cheering H.O. Brittingham Elementary students welcomed community members and district leaders May 25 to share their progress and successes at the second annual Leadership Day.

Guests were greeted at the front entrance by students holding posters and chanting, “We are H.O.B.” and “Leader in Me,” while students inside the building passed out name tags and led the way to a continental breakfast in the school library.

Before the program began, students met individually with each invited guest to show their binders full of work they completed throughout the year. 

During the presentation, dozens of students explained in Spanish and English different elements of the Leader in Me philosophy.

The philosophy is based on Stephen Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and adapted by Stephen’s son Sean for use in the classroom. Sean’s book, “The 7 Habits of Healthy Kids,” illustrates the leadership skills all kids can learn.

H.O.B. adopted the motivational philosophy in 2018 and was named a national Leader in Me Lighthouse School in 2022 in recognition of its outstanding results in school and student outcomes in teaching leadership principles, creating a leadership culture and aligning academic systems. 

Students also detailed the results of a yearlong kindness campaign project conducted with the Ormiston Primary School in Scotland. Students communicated via video to get to know each other and motivate each other to promote kindness in their schools.

Tours were then provided throughout the school to showcase student projects.

After the presentation, Principal Kyle Bentley said the Leader in Me network chose H.O.B. for the initial project based on its inaugural Leadership Day in 2022 and its status as a Lighthouse School.

“We were selected to be a part of the first group of Lighthouse and Legacy schools across the country and world to participate in the Global Leadership Project,” Bentley said. “The project was started based on Sean Covey’s trip to Ukraine and the need to bring people together for community service projects in very challenging times.” 

Moving forward, Bentley said all schools in the Leader in Me Network will have the opportunity to find partner schools throughout the world to work with on community service projects.  

“We intend to maintain and continue building our relationship with Ormiston Primary School in the years to come,” Bentley said.  

By working together toward a common goal for a community service project, students learned anything is possible, Bentley said. Students in both schools were interested in improving kindness, he said.

“Our students were very interested in the uniforms that students wear in Scotland, the different ways of speaking English and the school schedules,” Bentley said. “Overall, it was an incredible experience. We are very proud to be a part of this focus on community service and establishing global partnerships to expand learning opportunities for our students at H.O.B.”