Parma Park Elementary students are learning about leadership and being good role models with the school’s ‘Guys With Ties’.
The group, started this year by Assistant Principal Christopher Keating, invites second-grade boys to learn important skills and talk about topics like peer pressure, how to be kind to themselves and others, and how to be a good leader.
“Lisa Eland, Parma Park home liaison, was leading a Girl Power group for second-grade girls,” he explained. “The boys in the class were asking when they could have a group, so I researched online leadership unit plans and came across a unit called Guys with Ties.”
The first lesson focused on group rules and how boys get to wear a tie each week.
“If each boy promises to abide by the rules, he can wear his tie in school all day,” Keating shared. “Other lessons include a discussion on who they think is a good leader and what traits a good leader has; defining a put-up and a put-down and the consequences of both; what peer pressure is and the choices and consequences of it; what is a bystander and how to stand up for yourself and others; and the benefits of being kind to others and yourself.”
The group is currently for second graders because they will have two more years in the school to be good role models to the younger students.
Keating said he hopes this group will encourage students to take on more leadership roles in the school like safety patrol and student council, and for the boys to realize that its cool to be kind to others as well as themselves.
Ultimately, the goal is for the boys to recognize that their words and actions can have a lasting effect on others, either good or bad.
“At Parma Park, all adults teach about and stress what it means to be kind to ourselves and others,” Keating expressed. “This group is an extension of that, in addition to teaching about leadership skills. Also, I hope I can be a positive male influence on some of these boys' lives and that it is an honor to be recognized as a Guy with a Tie.”
Original source can be found here
Alerts Sign-up