Crestview Elementary School has had a successful second year with its Leadership Clubs. Leadership Clubs take place on the last Friday every month in the Elementary school. This is a day when students in the Elementary school meet in clubs that they created at the beginning of the school year based on student interests. These clubs meet for an hour to take part in an activity specific to that club. After clubs have met, everyone meets in the gym to celebrate awards for Leader of the Month.
“Leadership Clubs are an opportunity for all our students, Kindergarten through fourth grade, to feel connected to the school community and a chance for our older students to learn and provide leadership,” said Principal Chris Gilbert
This is the second year of the Leadership Clubs. Once it is time to meet, Principal Chris Gilbert will send out an announcement. The students will then meet with the club they choose. Some 4th graders who have shown leadership interest have taken it upon themselves to mentor younger students and will go to their classes to pick them up.
The students and teachers created the clubs at the beginning of the school year. There are many fun clubs that the students have been able to participate in such as Lego Club, Sign Language Club, Spa Club, and so much more. Last school year there were 5 clubs. This school year there are 14 different clubs students are participating in. Each club learns a skill that they will then give back to the community.
“I helped with the cooking club. For PBIS and Kindness Month, we are collecting donations for area dog shelters. The cooking club decided to make homemade dog treats to give to the dogs in the shelter. It was such a great way to combine two passions (cooking and helping out the dog shelters). It was fun to talk to the kids about their dogs and also how they had contributed to the donation collection that we did during February,” said school counselor Beth Cole.
Beyond helping the community, Leadership Clubs help teach the students skills other than academics. It allows students to socialize with each other and with students in other grades that they may not communicate with otherwise. It also allows students to follow something they could be interested in and take on a leadership role.
“By allowing students the opportunity to join a club of their interest we can allow them to learn how to renew themselves with self care. These skills they can take and apply to their everyday life. Students may not always be great at reading or math but learning new skills in something they enjoy allows them to take a leadership role in a different way,” said 1st grade teacher Elizabeth Courter.
It is also a good time for the staff and faculty members. They get to create fun activities that they can do with their students. The staff have just as much fun as the students do. On top of having fun, the staff gets to interact with students of all different ages.
“My favorite part of Leadership Day is working with students in the grade levels I don't teach every day, as well as seeing our 4th graders take on leadership roles during our Leader of the Month assemblies,” said faculty member Jennifer Buzzard.
Overall, Leadership Clubs have been such a fun and great experience for the staff and students. Each child and adult has a big smile on their face during the clubs. To end their Leadership Clubs students are recognized by their teachers with an award for the skills they learned.