FAITH AND FAMILY PARTNERSHIP PAGE — STEPHEN COVEY PROJECT
2012-2013 School Year Focus — Lighthouse Leadership Team
After a successful first year to our Covey Leadership initiative during the 2011-2012 school year, the faculty decided that this year we would begin building a Lighthouse Leadership team in order to begin to develop specific student leaders within the school. These leaders would not only help to promote the Covey 7 Principles within the school, but would also help to support special school initiatives, and help support the school’s Student Council. The Lighthouse team faculty leader is Mrs. Judy Kelly, our Kindergarten Teacher, and our lighthouse team consists of faculty recommended students in grades 3 through 8. The team meets for a luncheon meeting once a month, and also meets when special projects are underway. The Lighthouse team has been very instrumental in this year’s Open House and Catholic School’s Week activities, as well as serving as tour ambassadors for families visiting the school, or assisting students who are shadowing in our school for possible registration here. Our hope is that we will continue to expand this and other Covey Leadership training activities in the 2013-2014 school year, and see this team take on additional leadership roles within the school.
Prior to the start of the 2011-2012 school year, the faculty of St. Theresa School engaged in a three day training experience to begin to build the foundation for the implementation of the Stephen Covey “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” into the school community. This integration has been tested before in schools across the country. The Faith and Family Foundation is a Catholic Faith Based organization that is promoting the use of the Covey Habits to assist Catholic Schools to develop new leadership training initiatives that can substantially change and enhance the school climate and outcomes. The faculty took what they had learned in the training and began to implement specific ideas throughout the school where the students could engage and participate in leadership and behavior change based on the integration of the Covey Habits.
We are at the half-way mark in the school year and these initiatives have paid off in improved student behavior both in and out of the classroom, new opportunities for students to lead school activities, and a new sense of self-esteem in many struggling students. We will be highlighting specific activities on this page as we progress with this process.
Currently we are getting ready to celebrate some student achievements among the Kindergarten to Fourth Grade Students. These students have earned a goal star for behavior leadership during lunch periods at the school and have been chosen as student prayer leaders at least three times since the start of the school year. A special recognition luncheon will be held for the eleven students who have met the gold star criteria. The luncheon will be held on 2/29/2012 during the first lunch period from 11:20 to 11:55 on that date. Students will also receive special honors later in the school year at a special awards ceremony. We are thrilled to see our younger students picking up on the Covey Leadership Habits so nicely, and hope to see more students achieve “gold star” status before the end of the school year.