Building Leadership Skills: Student Collaboration between Lansing USD469 Schools Inspires Students
Earlier this school year, Michael Bert, a member of the Leadership Committee under the Lansing High School National Honor Society, started an initiative to encourage and build leadership skills among students from Lansing Intermediate School (LIS), Lansing Middle School (LMS), and Lansing High School (LHS).
Michael began the initiative by reaching out to Mrs. Bishop, the Peer Leadership teacher at Lansing Middle School, and Mrs. Nowak, the student council teacher at Lansing Intermediate School to create a program centered around leadership. Their shared vision was to create an opportunity for students from all three schools to come together and explore the aspects of leadership through interactive activities, skits, and group discussions.
Michael and a group of high school students dedicated themselves to designing lesson plans to bring their vision to life. Their goal was to facilitate meaningful discussions and activities that would encourage students to reflect on what it truly means to be a leader.
The next phase of the initiative involved the high school students visiting the middle school and intermediate school to interact with the peer leaders and student council members. With the help of the high school students, the middle schoolers orchestrated skits that portrayed different leadership scenarios, allowing the intermediate school students to witness leadership qualities in action.
Following the skits, the students broke into small groups to engage in discussions about leadership. Led by Michael and the middle school Peer Leaders, the students explored various aspects of leadership, including the qualities that define an effective leader and the ways in which leadership can positively impact both the school and the broader community.