Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program Celebrates Seventh Year of Service

A Lead2Feed survey found that 91 percent of Americans agree that students are more successful in school when they are able to practice their leadership skills outside the classroom. Lead2Feed’s free program provides leadership lessons that align with 21st century skills. Students apply these lessons as they form teams, brainstorm and create programs to address a specific need on a local or global scale. Across the country, teams have worked to address issues such as social justice and mental health.

“Lead2Feed teaches and empowers middle and high school students to become leaders and make big things happen in their community. Every year I’m inspired to see these students form teams, set a big goal, create and execute projects,” said David Novak. “Through the Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program, students find their voice and passion. They are making their community a better place and in the process emerging as leaders.”

The Lead2Feed lessons, which satisfy Literacy, Social Emotional Learning and Project Based Learning Standards, will expand on the concept of “community” with the new Now Go Lead lesson set. These lessons will help students understand that their projects can benefit their immediate school community, their local geographical area and their efforts toward global citizenship. Lead2Feed also offers digital student lessons that educators can import into their school’s e-portal for use in a digital environment.

“Lead2Feed curriculum provides robust leadership lessons integrated with project based learning allowing students to also focus on Service Learning. These lessons may be taught across all subjects, enhancing skill development,” said Diane Barrett, Executive Director of the Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning, Inc. “We are seeing the benefits of teaching leadership lessons to students at an early age. Students benefit individually while communities benefit from their service contributions.”

As a result of active participation in the Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program from schools and youth clubs across the U.S., the following participants have earned the Lead2Feed Certified School honor in recognition for their inspiring community service work and impressive demonstrations of leadership:

• Babb Middle School (Forest Park, GA)
• Bagdad Unified School District (Bagdad, AZ)
• Basha High School (Chandler, AZ)
• Benson High School (Benson, AZ)
• Bridger High School (Bridger, MT)
• Chandler High School (Chandler, AZ)
• Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences (Chicago, IL)
• Churchill County High School (Fallon, NV)
• Coral Gables Preparatory Academy (Coral Gables, FL)
• Coral Reef High School (Miami, FL)
• Design and Architecture Senior High (Miami, FL)
• East Central High School (St. Leon, IN)
• Eisenhower High School (Lawton, OK)
• Elizabethtown High School (Elizabethtown, KY)
• Flagami Elementary School (Miami, FL)
• George Washington High School (Chicago, IL)
• Grassfield High School (Chesapeake, VA)
• Hidden Valley High School (Grants Pass, OR)
• Jay M. Robinson Middle School (Charlotte, NC)
• JP Taravella High School (Coral Springs, FL)
• Lawton High School (Lawton, OK)
• Menchville High School (Newport News, VA)
• Mercy Academy (Louisville, KY)
• Mohave High School (Bullhead City, AZ)
• Moody Middle School (Henrico, VA)
• Mountain Ridge High School (Glendale, AZ)
• Odessa High School (Odessa, WA)
• Ogden High School (Ogden, UT)
• Port Chester Middle School (Port Chester, NY)
• Raytown High School (Raytown, MO)
• Spring Lake Park High School (Spring Lake Park, MN)
• Stockbridge High School (Stockbridge, GA)
• The Phoenix School of Discovery (Louisville, KY)
• The Walter Damrosch School (Bronx, NY)
• Toombs County High School (Lyons, GA)
• Winton Woods Middle School (Cincinnati, OH)

To qualify to be a Lead2Feed Certified School, schools must participate in Lead2Feed for two or more years with a minimum of two teachers registered. Schools must also submit a leadership project In the Lead2Feed Challenge each year.

Educators can register their student teams for the Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program and enter the Lead2Feed Challenge online at www.lead2feed.org. By working through the Lead2Feed lessons, students will design and implement a service project, partner with a non-profit organization and compete for a chance to win up to $10,000 for their charity or school. This year, there will be two deadlines for student groups to participate in the Lead2Feed Challenge, February 1 and May 31, giving students more opportunities to lead than ever before.

Complete rules and details on the Lead2Feed Challenge are available at: https://www.lead4change.org/how-to-participate/project-submission-rules/. To watch the action, get involved and learn more, follow Lead2Feed:

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About Lead2Feed

The Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program was created by the Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning and the Lift a Life Foundation to encourage middle and high school students to hone leadership skills by completing a service project around a community need involving a public nonprofit.

About Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning

The Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning, a public charity, supports and builds alliances that enhance innovative, instructional programs and community outreach by providing the resources to promote new opportunities and participation. FILL is a supporting foundation to the International Literacy Association. The foundation welcomes participation in efforts to engage, enlighten and inspire today’s students and educators by opening their classrooms to the real world. The Foundation seeks funding from other foundations, private companies and organizations to help provide educational programs for elementary and secondary schools, community colleges and/or programs in specific disciplines or curriculum areas. The Foundation works with interested parties to collaborate on the creation of an educational program that promotes literacy and learning. www.fillprograms.org

About Lift a Life Foundation

The Lift a Life Foundation was established in 1999 by David and Wendy Novak. The mission of the Lift a Life Foundation is to lead the way with innovative programs that help people in need and develop future leaders. The Foundation focuses on creative partnerships that make a lasting impact in the primary areas of hunger relief, early childhood education, juvenile diabetes, military family support and leadership development. Since Lift a Life Foundation began, it has helped thousands of people in need through grants and programming support. David Novak is the Co-Founder, former CEO and Chairman of Yum! Brands, one of the world’s largest restaurant companies with nearly 43,500 KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants in more than 135 countries and territories. A renowned expert on leadership and recognition culture, Novak is the author of three highly respected and critically acclaimed books, The Education of an Accidental CEO, the New York Times bestseller Taking People With You as well as his latest parable, O Great One! A Little Story About The Awesome Power of Recognition. David has been recognized as “2012 CEO of the Year” by Chief Executive magazine, one of the world’s “30 Best CEOs” by Barron’s, one of the “Top People in Business” by FORTUNE and one of the “100 Best-Performing CEOs in the World” by Harvard Business Review. In April 2015, he received the prestigious 2015 Horatio Alger Award for his commitment to philanthropy and higher education and became a lifetime member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. He is the recipient of the 2012 UN World Food Program Leadership Award for Yum! Brands World Hunger Relief effort that raises awareness, volunteerism and funds to address this global problem. He received the national 2008 Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship. He also is the founder of the world’s first recognition brand, OGO, which stands for ‘O Great One’, a term coined by Novak to define influential people, such as family, friends or co-workers, who inspire and contribute to those around them. Wendy Novak is a lifelong philanthropist and volunteer. She serves on the advisory board for the Wendy Novak Diabetes Care Center.