BROOKLYN, Ohio — After three years of the successful high school Hurricane Student Leadership Project, Brooklyn City Schools recently expanded the initiative to include middle schoolers from area districts.
“This event dovetailed off that work with high school students, where now we’re extending this training and some of the leadership development with sixth-graders, who are not quite in middle school yet,” Brooklyn City Schools Superintendent/CEO Theodore Caleris said.
“They’re starting that journey, so it just made sense from that standpoint. I also reached out to various schools in the area that we see quite a bit through athletics or activities. We had five other schools jump in.”
Tom Burton of WeEmpower LLC hosted the Middle School Leadership Symposium at Brooklyn School. (Courtesy of Brooklyn City Schools)Courtesy of Brooklyn City Schools
The Middle School Leadership Symposium, which took place Nov. 13 in the fieldhouse, included 96 sixth-graders from Brooklyn, North Olmsted, Fairview Park, Independence, Cuyahoga Heights city schools, as well as St. Thomas More School, working with Tom Burton of WeEmpower LLC.
The former teacher, coach and superintendent empowers students to develop leadership skills and create a lasting impact on their school and community.
“This is a unique program that when I was a building principal, my kids in my building never had this opportunity,” he said.
“I was thrilled that the other area superintendent and or the building principals were willing to jump into this venture with us, so we were very excited to have all the kids here.”
Ranging from table discussions to collaborative activities, the recent symposium featured an assortment of activities designed to help students connect with fellow peers while building leadership skills through discussing relevant topics such as how to manage conflict in a positive manner and identify examples of individuals they admire as a leader.
The forum also gave students a chance to think about the type of leader they aspire to be and how they would like their contributions to be remembered upon graduation.
“Our teachers and principals identified the students in terms of this opportunity,” he said.
“If you look at the general age, sixth-graders are still trying to find themselves, so we have lots of different kids that have been recommended for this program.”
Brooklyn School in Brooklyn. (John Benson/cleveland.com)John Benson/cleveland.com
As far as expanding the Middle School Leadership Symposium to include other grade levels, the superintendent said all options are on the table.
“I would always love to extend different opportunities to our younger students or those seventh and eighth-graders,” he said.
“We just have to see how this plays out this year.”
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