Leadership Day at Eugene Field Elementary: 'The kids get to shine, it's their moment'

Eugene Field Elementary students shined with empowerment in front of community leaders to inspire others, leaving several in tears of joy Friday during the school’s annual Leadership Day.

Students welcomed a gymnasium full of school administrators, business leaders and visiting school representatives from the area to show the community “This is Us!”

“The staff and I are committed to ensuring our students have their moment to be a star,” Eugene Field Principal Jennifer Taylor said. “Some leave here and may not get the opportunity again, so it’s our responsibility to provide that opportunity.”

The school’s sixth annual Leadership Day showcased over 120 students in leadership roles including speeches, performances and classroom tours.

“The entire program is completely student-led,” Taylor said.

During classroom tours, first grade students Ethan Clemons and Rylee Thomason explained ways they have learned to be good leaders, how to handle conflicts and how to be heard.

“I like Leadership Day because I get to talk to people,” Thomason said. “I get to do stuff and talk to other teachers.”

Third grader Abbie Spain assisted class visitors with a project designed to grow the mind.

“I have learned a lot of things at Eugene Field, but one of the biggest is that I should never give up,” she said.

Leadership Day has become a tradition at Eugene Field that students look forward to each year, Taylor said.

“Younger siblings hear about it and look forward to being a part of the day and I had third graders with tears in their eyes who were sad this would be their last Leadership Day,” she said.

The event is a part of the Leader In Me School program.

“LIM schools design their culture, academics and leadership opportunities around Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits for Highly Effective People,” Taylor said. “The 7 Habits originated as a business model and was adapted for students and school implementation about 20 years ago. That is why the initiative is called Leader in Me — teaching students the habits and providing opportunities for them to develop leadership skills.”

Those 7 Habits include “sharpen the saw; be proactive; begin with an end in mind; put first things first; think win-win; seek first to understand, then to be understood; and synergize.”

The elementary school achieved the highest honor a LIM school can achieve two years ago by being named a Lighthouse School.

With Lighthouse recertification coming every two years, Eugene Field will be up for renewal this spring.

Taylor said she and her staff are not worried about being recertified with the highest LIM school honor since designing Leadership Day around areas needing strengthened and all the hard work that has been accomplished.

The five paradigms, “everyone can be a leader; everyone has genius; change starts with me; educators empower students to lead their own learning; and develop the whole person,” have shown impact in the school over the past two years, Taylor added.

“Discipline continues to decline, test scores are holding steading or increasing and we are receiving wonderful feedback from parents,” she said. “You feel the impact when you walk in the doors and the kids truly are put first and function as a family.”

Memorial Baptist Church and its congregation were presented with the Leader of the Year Award by students for assisting the school in its programs and playing a part by being involved in the school climate.

Third grade teacher Jackie Gilberto said during Leadership Day students who may have been overlooked are found to be leaders and step into the role.

“Everyone has genius,” she said. “With Leadership Day, the students are able to grow and find confidence.”

Gilberto added she enjoys Leadership Day because the community has an opportunity to come into the school and see what is done on a day-to-day basis and why the Eugene Field is a LIM school.

“The kids get to shine,” she said. “It’s their moment.”