Each year as we wrap up our Challenge we are awed by the impact students have made in their school, community and the world. And we are humbled by the highly committed educators willing to unleash and develop new leadership skills in middle and high school students. These are not just kind words – this is a testament to REAL Leaders making REAL change.
Middle and high school students — teenagers — need to be Emerging Leaders. To do that with confidence and success, they must be equipped with the self-realization of their own leadership capacity and respect for the skills, talent, and willingness of others.
The Lead4Change member community includes close to 11,000 educators willing to take students through a set of lessons to develop individual and team leadership and social-emotional skills. The outcome is a service project which puts into practice those skills so students can effectively say that they learned AND practiced their leadership. Once they become self-aware that they have the capacity to lead the change — the barriers are gone and they emerge with confidence and charge ahead with action.
Here are some of the issues the Lead4Change student teams have worked on in the past 8 years.
> Anti-Bullying
> Campaigns to Value and Be Kind to Others
> Food Insecurity Solutions
> Foster Care and Domestic Abuse Care
> Human Trafficking
> Immigration Reform and Assistance
> Job Skills and Opportunity
> Mental Health Solutions for K12 students
> Water and Sustainable Resources
When teenagers realize exactly how to “Be Your Best Self” and then how to use those skills to positively impact others — they are not going to be stopped. They are ready to Go Big! Be the Change! Lead and Serve!
The very best evidence we see each year is when students start with changes that need to happen right where they are. They make life better for their peers, for their families, for their community. They are not afraid to take on the most serious issues, the most sensitive topics and take their action to the highest and best places where change can occur and be sustained.
Do you need specifics on anything mentioned here? We are happy to connect you with a specific teacher, share the story of a specific project. The results and stories are real. And, more importantly, the change is real.
The Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation and the Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning are committed to developing emerging leaders.
We invite you, your educators and your students to be counted in our solution-focused member community. Lead4Change.org