IMPACT Attends First Leadership Workshop
KCJH Leaders Acknowledge Cool Stuff and Work on Concerns
by Kathy Headrick
September 23, 2009
On September 23, 2009, the KCJH Impact team travelled to Bucklin to attend a leadership workshop for KCJH, Bucklin JH, South Central JH, and Minneola JH. Students from all four schools attended this CLASS (Cooperative Leadership and Sharing Strategies) workshop designed to foster interaction among their respective leadership teams and between students from the other schools.
Jara Wilson, Southwest Plains Regional Educational Service Center
consultant, teaches this CLASS program all across southwest Kansas.
Students learn how important it is to encourage others and complete
an activity where they write compliments to each other. They also
get into their school teams and discussed “cool stuff” about their
school. Wilson wants these leadership teams to actually make an
impact when they go back to their schools, so she also has them
brainstorm school concerns.
On the Cool Stuff list for KCJH: good lunches, big lockers, pep
club, pep band, being in a school building instead of trailers this
year, laptops for all students, smart boards, awesome sports teams,
school-sponsored parties and dances (among a few other things)
On the Concerns list for KCJH: bullying, cliques, school spirit,
snack break, back-talking (among a few other things)
Toward the end of the day, Wilson had the groups work on a plan to do something positive in their schools. KCJH students decided to organize a recycling program at the junior high. They will try to recycle paper and cardboard. The students will collect cardboard weekly and will place recycling containers in each classroom for paper. The recycling trailer goes to Mullinville on Wednesdays and so the Impact group will be responsible for getting the paper and cardboard to the trailer when necessary.
At the next Impact meeting (the group meets once a week), Mrs.
Headrick, Impact sponsor, will have students work on how to show
appreciation to the appropriate people for the “cool stuff” list.
They will also choose a topic or two from the concerns list and
discuss how Impact can help make that concern better at school.
Impact will attend three of these leadership workshops during the
course of the school year. KCJH and South Central will host the
next two workshops for the junior high leadership groups.
