A School Full of Leaders: A Plan at SI’s Petrides
The goal at Staten Island’s Petrides (P.S. 80) is to have a school full of leaders. They believe that every student has the potential to be a leader. It’s a priority and they have a plan. It started with an interested parent coordinator, enthusiastic administrators, a handful of student leaders and a big dose of enthusiasm […]
Leadership is Igniting Good
Life is beautiful not because of the things we see or do. Life is beautiful because of the people we meet. — Simon Sinek Recently, I had the pleasure of listening to my son give a speech about leadership. In his short remarks, he said that leadership is about interconnectivity, empathy and attitude.Of the three, […]
Students Encouraged to Be Their “Best Selves” at P.S. 69
Our school has been placing an emphasis on exposing our students to Character Traits such as Respect, Patience, Tolerance, Responsibility, and Loyalty (just to name a few.) This emphasis shows them that truly exhibiting these traits will allow them to collaborate and communicate effectively. — P.S. 69 P.S. 69 is keeping their eye of the […]
P.S. 45 Takes “Respect For All’ Seriously All Year Long
Visiting Staten Island’s P.S. 45 (John Tyler School) inspired me. (For those reading this outside of New York City, P.S. stands for Public School.) Every student in this elementary school participated in an awesome kick-off assembly honoring Respect for All Week. The students were led in a special reading of Kathryn Otoshi’s book Zero by […]
Connecting the Dots: Daydreaming, Resilience and Bullying Prevention
There’s an upside and a downside to our focus on bullying prevention. The upside, of course, is that we’re shedding light on the pervasive culture of mean that is destroying the confidence of so many children and teens. The downside is that the conversation doesn’t go deep enough. Should we be talking just about […]
Gold Medal Performance in Feeding the Hungry
Just as I was feeling down realizing that there would be no gold medalist to watch tonight, I came across this story of a college guy who should receive the gold for putting 2 and 2 together and feeding thousands. Food Recovery Network is an organization that donates food from college campuses to the hungry. […]
Are the Next Great Leaders At P.S. 22?
ABC’s The View celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by asking Staten Island’s P.S. 22 Chorus to appear on their show to sing, “We Shall Overcome.” The song was interspersed with students reciting lines from Dr. King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech. P.S. 22 is known for its famous chorus. They’ve sung with incredible […]
Getting Creative and Teaching Leadership at P.S. 55
Students are learning that One Can Count at P.S. 55 on Staten Island. Fifth graders are the experts as they partner with the Kindergartners to reinforce the message, “Everyone Counts.” After reading Kathryn Otoshi’s award-winning book, One, the mentors got together with their younger counterparts to lead them in an activity that demonstrates that everyone is […]
Inspiration at the 7-Eleven: #Leadership
When we tell people to do their jobs, we get workers. When we trust people to get the job done, we get leaders. — Simon Sinek I’ve been lucky enough to hang out in San Diego for the past month. I have my new granddaughter, Lucy, to thank for keeping me out of the harsh […]
Leader Nelson Mandela Was a Child Once
(AP Photo/Peter Dejong) What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” — Nelson Mandela Two small stories from two different locations caught my attention this week but […]
