Three student teams from Hubert Middle School are each being awarded $500 grants for their efforts in the national Lead4Change Student Leadership Program Challenge. Despite the unprecedented shutdown of schools this year due to COVID-19, the students managed to complete their projects virtually. They entered the challenge as part of their participation in the school's FCCLA Organization and are three of only 39 teams nationwide chosen as winners in the challenge. FCCLA is a Career and Technical Student Organization that functions as an integral part of the Family and Consumer Sciences education connections class at Hubert Middle School. The organization participates in many community service projects and takes pride in a focus on the family.
The Lead4Change Student Leadership Program is a Leadership Curriculum with a Framework for Community Service. Lead4Change gives students opportunities to learn outside the classroom by connecting with their community and putting their leadership skills into action through project management, decision-making and teamwork while competing in the Lead4Change Challenge. The school's three teams and their projects were:
8th Grade student Chloe Morning's team named Income Getters addressed the issue of the increasing numbers of unemployed people due to the coronavirus. The slogan of her team Income Getters was: “Keep your job and your paycheck."
6th-Grade student Javontae Vann's team addressed the issue of housing for the homeless. His team slogan was: Help us assist others through "Hand of helpers"
The 7th and 8th grade student performance team “Butterfly 2020" addressed an issue that is often challenging for Middle School students – encounters with bullying, peer pressure, and gossip. The negativity inherent in those issues can lead to self-esteem problems, anxiety, and isolation. The students created a performance set to the song “Fly Above" by Kandi Buress, putting a positive spin on what many students in Middle school are facing and calling on fellow students to fly above all the drama, hate, and negativity because it is beneath them. They performed it live at several events earlier in the school year and had more performances scheduled during the 4th quarter before schools were closed.
David Novak, Co-Founder of the Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation which helped create the Lead4Change program, said, “Student leaders emerged during this time of distance learning to make big things happen for their community. It was powerful to see how students continued to complete the online Lead4Change lessons and apply their leadership skills to a real need within their community. We hope this experience sparks a passion in students and helps them see they are true leaders who can positively impact the world."
The $1500 in grants will be used by Hubert's FCCLA organization to implement service projects at school and in the community to support positive causes. “We are grateful and humbled by the experience", says CTAE Teacher and FCCLA Adviser Marissa Johnson, “It is my hope that this opportunity sparks a passion in all students to see their potential to be true leaders who can positively impact the world."
About Lead4Change
The Lead4Change Student Leadership Program was created by the Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning and the Lift a Life Novak Family 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.
