Leading the way: MBE’s commitment to leadership development continues
Mountain Brook Elementary continued its focus on developing the leader within each of its students and sharing the lessons learned at MBE with others through its MBE Leadership Day and participation in the local Leader in Me Symposium.
On Jan. 10, dozens of MBE parents joined students, faculty and staff for a morning of exploration and engagement during the annual MBE Leadership Day. MBE students led parents and community members on tours of the campus and grounds, explaining the various ways MBE works to develop students’ leadership and character. Visitors spent time in student development facilities such as Lights, Camera, Action (“LCA”), Lancer Lair and Makerspace while MBE students detailed how they used those facilities to grow their leadership skills.
As MBE parent Aimee Reese commented after the event, “What an amazing school this is! To see what our children get to do in school is just unbelievable. It truly makes me want to start school again; there’s an idea – Bring Your Mom to School Day!”
MBE also participated in this year’s Leader in Me Symposium, which was held in Birmingham Jan. 10-11. The symposium was attended by around 350 educators from across the country who are already engaged in the Leader in Me process or are considering it and have come to discover more about how the 7 Habits impact learning. As a Lighthouse School, MBE has developed programming and a knowledge base that is extremely useful to other schools engaging in leadership development work. On Jan. 10, fifth-grader Sophie Hicks began the day’s symposium session with a personal speech followed by an introduction of the event’s emcee, Lonnie Moore. MBE sixth-graders Charlie Johnston and Kathryn Taylor Todd shared highlights from their own leadership experiences at MBE and served on a question-and-answer panel. At the close of the day’s session, MBE was recognized for its recent 2018 Lighthouse School recertification.
The following day, MBE hosted around 60 guests from the symposium for a school tour. MBE students had the opportunity to guide symposium attendees through MBE and highlight the school’s various leadership initiatives.
As MBE Principal Ashley McCombs said, it was “a two-hour showcase of what leadership looks like at MBE and how it has enhanced the learning experiences and culture of the school.”
To learn more about the Leader in Me program visit www.leaderinme.org.
Submitted by Kitty Rogers Brown