By Jackie Gorski
Times-Union

WARSAW — Representatives from Harrison and Lincoln elementary schools updated the Warsaw School Board Tuesday about a leadership program they are trying to implement.

Lincoln Principal Aimee Lunsford and Harrison Principal Matt Deeds talked about the Leader In Me program.

Lunsford said the program teaches leadership skills so students have those skills as part of who they are as people. One of the ways those skills are taught is by bringing certain problems in the school to students so they can come up with solutions. Deeds said this helps students feel more like it’s their school.

Harrison teacher Dan Graney said he was trained in the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which is based off the book by Stephen Covey over 30 years ago.

The habits that are taught include to be proactive, begin with the end in mind by having a plan, put first things first, think win-win, seek first to understand then to be understood, synergize and find your voice and inspire others to find theirs.

Deeds said it takes about three years for a school in the Leader In Me program to become certified as a Lighthouse school.

Schools use a Lighthouse rubric to measure outcomes in three areas: teaching leadership principles, creating a leadership culture and aligning academic systems. Schools also measure their success as it relates to their school, according to the Leader In Me website.

The Lighthouse School Designation is earned by schools that demonstrate the principal, school administration and staff engage in ongoing learning and develop as leaders, while championing leadership for the school; leadership principles are effectively taught to all students through direct lessons, integrated approaches and staff modeling. Students are able to think critically about and apply leadership principles; families and the school partner together in learning about the seven habits and leadership principles through effective communication and mutual respect; and students lead their own learning with the skills to assess their needs, set appropriate goals, and carry out action plans, among other things, according to the website.

Lunsfeld said some of the things students get out of the program include conflict resolution, community service and a focus on employability.

Harrison instructional coach Katie Maile said the program benefits students and gives them the skills they need.

Lunsfeld said the two schools are aspiring for the Lighthouse school certification. Deeds said he thinks there’s only 600 Lighthouse-status schools in the U.S., but there a lot of schools that are putting on the Leader In Me program.

In other business, the board was updated on the school corporation’s Dual Language Immersion program.

Second- through sixth-grade students in the Spanish DLI program recently completed the STAMP assessment as a measure of their proficiency in the Spanish language. The STAMP assessment measures the students’ proficiency in all four language domains: listening, speaking, reading and writing, according to a news release from Warsaw Community Schools.

Leesburg Elementary School Principal Nathan Polston on Tuesday said students are outperforming benchmark expectations. He said the transfer of knowledge is happening no matter which language the students are taught in.

Next year, the DLI program plans to expand to fifth grade at Leesburg; Lakeview Middle School will also receive its first DLI students as Eisenhower’s current sixth-grade students continue to seventh grade, stated the news release.