My Organization 's Programs Promote And Impact The Healthy Development Of Children And Youth Essay

Promoting student success is the founding principle of each of the Educational Leadership Constituencies Council Standards for Educational Leaders (2002). Influential educators combine their knowledge of leadership styles with personal experience in order to meet individual needs and encourage all students to achieve their potential.

Students in the classroom come from a variety of backgrounds. Their lives are shaped by their families, their communities, but also their peers in school whom they will spend hours a day with throughout their educational career. The ability to form relationships with others, to create lasting friendships that grow and evolve with time, is detrimental to all children and their development. Lacking the ability to do so, whether it is directly because of their conditions or because of how other students perceive them, can dramatically harm them emotionally and mentally.

“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others” according to Bill Gates, while John Maxwell tells people that “Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less.” Neither of them completely capture leadership, but at the same time, neither of them are wrong. To be a leader, one must empower and influence those they lead in order to get the results they want. Neither one mentions that a leader must be confident in themselves and show others that they are confident with the decisions they make for themselves and others. As president of the Italian National Honor Society at my school, it is my job to promote excellence in the course, as well as in the community. Since our society values giving back to the community, we put an emphasis on community service. Many of the other students in the society worried about completing their hours. I showed them that they did not need to worry about getting their service hours by completing all of my required hours for both National and Italian Honor Societies before the end of November.

The concepts of leadership, “to assist people to become more competent, purposeful, and ethical,” (Mission and vision, n.d.), fit within the mission of Siena Heights University because the institution fosters the growth of leaders by incorporating skills outside of the classroom. Educators have long known that a significant portion of student learning in college occurs outside the classroom and that faculty-student interaction is an important part of the college experience. (Cox, B. E., & Orehovec, E., 2007, p. 357). Significant research has demonstrated the importance of interaction between faculty members and students, both in and outside of the classroom (Cox, B. E., & Orehovec, E., 2007, p. 343). Faculty members possess a great deal of knowledge that can be imparted to student. This knowledge could be educational, life skills, and personal experiences that allow the student a contextual view point.

Our program provides a great foundation in influencing children’s health, which in turn fosters important areas of development, which children need in order to grow healthy and ready to succeed in school. This involves a joint collaboration between the program, families and the community by providing essential services to the children that include a nutritional meal plan, health and related services such as screenings for children and services for children that are ill.

Our Mission Statement: “To promote, protect and assure the health and wellness of the youth of Metro Atlanta through health promotion.”

|ILLSC 2008 Standard 1: An education leader promotes the success of every student by facilitating the development, articulation, |

According to author John C. Maxwell, “Good leadership isn’t about advancing yourself;it’s about advancing your team.” Much like Maxwell’s quote, I strive to advance my peers and my fellow students at South Florence High School. In my years at South Florence I’ve done my best to lead and be an example at this school by not only participating in clubs, but by doing my best academically. One thing that coincides with great leadership skills is a strong sense and acceptance of diversity in our school environment. Attending a school with a diverse student body helps prepare students for the culturally and ethnically diverse nation which we will be entering after we graduate and begin our lives.

The leadership and mentoring program at SCFS provide various recreational and educational activities that target diverse racialized (Somali, Syrian, Nepalese, Iraqi) youth who live in the high-risk neighborhoods across the city. All of our programs encourage leadership within our youth and we do this by strong mentorship and coaching. The youth are an integral part of our community and we believe that mentorship and coaching are essential for developing our youth leaders. We help with the development of our youth by supporting them in the navigation of the education system in particular post secondary. We also connect our youth to mentors within certain career fields they are interested in so that they can start to build their own career paths.

That skill is important for a school leader because of enhancing a school’s climate seek to provide equitable opportunities for all students. However, supporting student engagement in learning is important to motivate all students and improve student learning.

As teachers, we need to create a comfortable classroom climate where there is a feeling of acceptance and celebrate differences among each student. Effective teachers will also demonstrate appropriate planning, preparing and execution of content. Standard 5 is focused on Middle Level Professional Roles. Along with understanding and applying knowledge of young adolescents, as discussed with Standard 1, it is equally important to be an advocate for the students. By using professional leadership strategies, being an advocate for all young adolescents helps maximize their growth and learning. In order to be fully effective, working closely with family member and also with the community strengthen the ability to achieve this success.

I think and every successful teacher will agree with me that promoting the success of every student is the main value of any educational professional and it is very important for a leader to demonstrate these traits. What is leadership? Some people think that it is good to be a boss and it is easy to rule any organization. Leadership is more than just to rule any organization. It is the development of a practice around a mission or vision and an ability to inspire others to do the same. There are three sets of practices make up this basic core of successful leadership practices: setting directions, developing people and redesigning the organization. Foster (1989) says, “Leadership differs from conventional administration in much the same way that education differs from training (p.10).” This speaks to results- to the why of teaching. And the value of a leader can be determined by their results. If their aim is high-quality education (an admittedly vague term), academic success, and well-being of each student then this is the standard by which they should be judged. Burns admonishes that “power and leadership are measured by the degree of

As the leader of a 21st century school one must embody the qualities that best reflect the ever-changing face of education. Traditionally, the leader of a school focused a large portion of time and energy on typical managerial functions within the school. These tasks, although important, will not propel a school to achieve excellence. Today’s school leaders must be visionaries who create a sense of purpose driven unity. As a transformational leader, one must also be the beacon of learning in establishing and effectively cultivating professional learning communities. One must recognize and further develop the leadership skills of those within the school in order to ensure the vision and mission of the school is achieved. Keeping in

In order for the principal to develop positive relationships within the community the school needs to demonstrate, and promote the contributions provided. The school needs to adopt an “our children” attitude with the community to share in the benefits for students (Epstein, 2009).

As I began this Leadership in Education course, I entered with an open mind and eagerness to learn about varying leadership styles and approaches. Over the years, I have fortunately been exposed to numerous genuine, caring, exceptional leaders in higher education. They all shared one commonality: student-centeredness. This has been my compass and guides me in my work. Through this course, I wanted to learn how I can better support students, whether directly or indirectly by leading other professionals and para-professionals in their work with students.