Burleson Elementary student Grace Betterton exchanges greetings with a group of Hartselle High School ambassadors at Student Leadership Day as a way to put leadership into practice. | Enquirer Photo: Clif Knight

Special day held for student leaders

The development of leadership skills at the elementary school level was the focus of a Morgan County Student Leadership Day held at Central United Methodist Church in Decatur Thursday.

Sponsored by District 1 of the Alabama Association of Elementary School Administrators (AAESA), the event was attended by 149 student leaders who arrived with paper and pencils in hand ready to take notes.

AAESA District 1 President Datie Priest welcomed the students and challenged them to take notes from breakout session facilitators and go beck to their schools and share what they learned with others.

During a brief assembly, Superintendents Bill Hopkins Jr. (Morgan County), Dr. Vic Wilson (Hartselle) and Dr. Ed Nichols (Decatur) made opening remarks.

“All of you are leaders and we’re excited to have you here,” Wilson stated. “We are going to learn as much from you and you do from us.”

Nichols added, “As a leader you’re not alone. “ We call on each other when we don’t have the answers. We laugh with each other and know we’re not alone. The best leaders are those who surround themselves with good leaders.”

Each one of the superintendents talked about leadership in breakout sessions, which were rotated every 20 minutes. Each student participated in six different sessions.

Other breakout session facilitators were School Resource Officer Seth Sullivan and Decatur High JROTC Master Sgt. Duane Yarbrough. Sullivan addressed the subject of student safety while Yarbrough gave a presentation on flag etiquette.

“To be an effective leader, you need to get the views of other people so you can make the best decision,” Dr. Wilson told the students. “Don’t surround yourself with ‘yes’ people, surround yourself with smart people.”

He advised them to keep mind the three R’s of leadership – rigor, relevance and relationship.

“Students that have good relationships have fewer bullies,” he pointed out. “All of you that see bullying need to stand up and oppose it the same way.”

“This is amazing,” said Priceville Elementary School Principal Cherie Humphries. “It exposes students to different topics. The folding of the flag and the explanation of what the colors mean was something I had not witnessed. This is a good opportunity for student leaders to build on their leadership skills.”