Over 90 Percent of Americans Say Leadership Skills Should Be Part of School’s Curriculum
NEWARK, DE, April 4, 2017 — Building tomorrow’s leaders is more important than ever. A survey of U.S. adults by Lead2Feed, the nation’s leading and fastest-growing free student leadership program, found that Americans see leadership skills as a vital aspect of students’ education with 91 percent saying that middle and high school students should learn leadership skills as part of their curriculum.
“The Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program is helping meet a need by providing students with the opportunity to learn leadership skills in the classroom and execute what they have learned in their local communities,” said Diane Barrett, Executive Director of the Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning, Inc. “Lead2Feed offers educators a free turnkey program aligned to 21st-century skills that can be seamlessly integrated into an existing curriculum.”
Lead2Feed believes that middle and high school students today need more opportunities to practice the leadership skills they learn in school outside of the classroom, and 90 percent of Americans agree.
The Lead2Feed survey of more than 2,100 Americans analyzes insights related to Americans’ views about student leadership.
“With middle and high school being such a key time for students, developing leadership, literacy and teamwork skills will help propel students in the present and through college and their careers,” said Ashley Butler, Director of the Lift a Life Foundation. “The Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program empowers students to become leaders and make an impact in their communities and around the world.”
The Importance of Student Leadership
Findings include:
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94 percent of Americans say that leadership should involve teamwork.
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91 percent of Americans think teachers should integrate leadership skills in their schools’
existing curriculum.
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88 percent of Americans think students with leadership skills are more college and career
ready.
The Benefits of Leadership Skills
Of those who think that middle and high school students should learn leadership skills as part of their curriculum (91 percent), increased skill sets and preparation for college and career remain the key benefits:
Skills
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81 percent say it would help build their confidence.
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76 percent say it would help improve communications skills.
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75 percent say it would help build teamwork skills.
College and Career Prep
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75 percent believe it would help prepare them for the workforce.
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66 percent say it would help with the advancement of their career later in life.
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57 percent say it would help prepare them for college.
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56 percent say it would make them more competitive in the workforce.
“Lead2Feed is a great way to teach leadership and civic engagement while developing common core aligned academic skills,” said Dr. Pamela Royster, Lead2Feed Advisor and College / Career Readiness Specialist with Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, K.Y. “It is a win-win!”
Since its inception five years ago, more than one million middle and high school students from 5,000 schools and clubs across all 50 states have participated in Lead2Feed. The program is inspired by Co-Founder, former CEO and Chairman of Yum! Brands, and leadership expert, David Novak. The program was developed by the Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning, the Lift a Life Foundation and the Yum! Brands Foundation.
Teachers and advisors can register their student teams for the Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program and enter the Lead2Feed Challenge online at www.lead2feed.org for the opportunity to win grants for their charity and technology products for their schools and clubs. Lead2Feed Challenge entries are accepted all year, with the deadline for each school year being the first Friday in April.
Complete rules and details on the Lead2Feed Challenge are available at:
To watch the action, get involved and learn more, follow Lead2Feed:
• Web: http://www.lead4change.org
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Lead2Feed
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeadtoFeed
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/leadtofeed
• Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/leadtofeed/
Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Lead2Feed from March 6-8, 2017 among 2,178 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Jessica Chen, jchen@cooperkatz.com.
About Lead2Feed
The Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program was created by the Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning and the Lift a Life Foundation, with assistance from the Yum! Brands 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 501c3.
About Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning
The Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning, a 501c3 organization, 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 organization 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.
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 43,000 KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants in more than 130 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.
About Yum! Brands, Inc.
Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, has nearly 43,000 restaurants in 135 countries and territories and is one of the Aon Hewitt Top Companies for Leaders in North America. The company’s restaurant brands – KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell – are the global leaders of the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food categories. Worldwide, the Yum! Brands system opens over six new restaurants per day on average, making it a leader in global retail development.