Middle school students learning to lead
SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Fifth grader Krede Spire listens as Nancy Shipley and her mother, Phyllis Ottmann, answer questions about life when they were his age.
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The largest Leadership Day event in history offered family, friends and community members a peek into the inner cockpit of the leadership rocket ship that is blasting Maryville Middle School students into leadership roles throughout their school and out into the community.
As a “Leader in Me” school since 2014, Maryville Middle School faculty and staff members have worked to develop a leadership culture where all students may discover leadership qualities within themselves and then use those talents to become more effective in daily life.
During the student-created and student-led event on Tuesday, kids took turns at the microphone to share how they use Sean Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” not only in their day-to-day lives at school, but also in their personal lives.
From giving tours and speeches to performing in-classroom presentations and explaining Leadership Notebooks, students from fifth through eighth grade showcased their leadership abilities in front of more than a hundred community members on hand for the event.
Seventh graders McCoy Bowles and Tessa Mayne kicked off the event, sharing their use of leadership skills in their personal lives.
“Overall leadership is very important to me,” Bowles said. “And MMS has helped me along with that. As a seventh grader, this year I have really gone out of my comfort zone and tried new things.”
He told the large crowd gathered that he has participated in new sports, learned how to bake and crochet. But it has been 4-H that has really captured his excitement.
“Taking care of goats is a big responsibility and I spend a lot of time taking care of them,” Bowles said.
He joked that his friends, family, fellow classmates and teachers have probably heard him talk about his goats a lot.
“Through 4-H I have learned that animals are usually happy no matter what and they are pretty great about spreading that love,” Bowles said. “A leader is someone that you can look up to. If these extracurriculars have taught me anything, it’s that you should always strive for excellence. I have learned that no matter your age, no matter what you look like, you can always be a leader, and that is what is most important.”
In the past few years, Mayne said she’s begun realizing what leadership actually is.
“Being a leader means not being afraid to help others on the right path, leading them to make better choices,” she said. Mayne said she is on the worship team at her church, and that while there, she utilizes her leadership skills by playing drums. She hopes that when new people come to church, they see her and feel more comfortable.
“Being a leader is something everyone can do in and outside of school,” Mayne said.
Community members were then led by seventh and eighth graders to classrooms throughout the building to see how students have been focusing on leadership during school.
In Janice Gray’s fifth grade science class, a group of community members watched two videos about paradigm shifts.
“This year, students have been watching videos that help them understand that their perspective on the world may be different than others’ perspectives on the world,” Gray said to the group of visitors.
After the videos, Kynlie Strating read aloud several questions that students had come up with to ask the group of people from a different generation.
The first question was, “How many TVs did you have in your house and where were they located?”
Krede Spire, 11, sat at a table with Tim Shipley, Nancy Shipley and her mother, Phyllis Ottmann, who all smiled before telling him their experiences.
Spire said they have six televisions in his house and they’re spread out throughout. Nancy said they had two when she was his age, one very large one and another very small one in the kitchen that they weren’t allowed to have on during dinner. Ottmann said they had a TV, but it was a large console.
“It was furniture,” she said while grinning.
Spire told The Forum that he received one answer he hadn’t expected. Question No. 4 asked the group how old they were when they were allowed to ride their bike or walk by themselves to somewhere in town.
Ottmann told Spire that she was only five when she was allowed to walk to school by herself. Spire said he was only just now, at age 11, allowed to go somewhere on his own.
Before finishing the questions, it was time for the group to head to the next destination, with a pit stop in the crossover hall for a quick cake pop snack. The group then returned to the fifth grade wing to view the Biography Showcase in Kim Klotz’ reading room.
Five students portrayed the main character in the biographies they had recently read. Isla Borey portrayed author J.K. Rowling. Collin Mayes dressed and spoke with an accent as scientist Albert Einstein. Renner Shipley portrayed space-time theorist Stephen Hawking. Makenna Jensen not only dressed as, but also sang part of a song by country music star Lainey Wilson. Holland Hennegin dressed as and told the story of Underground Railroad champion Harriet Tubman.
Following the presentations there were a few questions. Klotz asked the students, “What is a leader?”
“Me,” Jensen responded nearly immediately. Klotz agreed, but wanted more explanation.
Eighth graders Maya Johnson and Mahoney Funderburg provided tours during the event, sharing the responsibility of making certain their group made it to its appointed locations.
The two told The Forum that they enjoyed the experience and would definitely use the leadership skills next year as freshmen in high school.
“It’s been very fun,” Johnson said, as she led her group back to the gym following the classroom breakout sessions.
Principal Kate Lydon thanked the staff, students and audience for participating in the event, providing an opportunity for students to learn and practice their leadership skills in action.
“This is the largest Leadership Day that we have ever had,” she said. “It really shows a lot that our community be here to support us, and we have so many people here today.”
SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Maryville Middle School students McCoy Bowles and Kalani Wilson demonstrate the importance of “putting first things first,” the third in Franklin Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens,” during Tuesday’s Leadership Day.
