BY KARISSA MILLER

About 300 parents and community members visited East Iredell Elementary School on Friday for the school’s annual Leadership Day.

“Our staff and students worked so hard, and they did an amazing job sharing their Leader in Me seven habits through performances and presentations,” said Principal Jennifer Ribbeck.

Students Leadership Day showcased different stations by grade level and guests were treated to a variety of performances and presentations. For example, fourth-graders shared a poem and other students performed songs that incorporated the seven habits.

The Seven Habits are:
• Be proactive,
• Begin with the end in mind,
• Put first things first,
• Think win-win,
• Seek first to understand, then be understood,
• Synergize, and
• Sharpen the saw.

Members of the Robotics Club and science students displayed their projects. Parents got to see what students are learning in the classroom and a chance to interact with other staff members.

Fourth-graders Charley Sells and Cooper Phillips used their leadership skills as they showed guests through their school.

Cooper said that the habit that he likes best is being proactive.

“Being proactive is doing something you know is right and don’t need anyone else asking you,” he explained.

Charley said that East is the best school because of the dual immersion language program. Cooper shared that he’s helped interpret for a friend who didn’t know English, but spoke Spanish.

While the day was focused on student leadership, Ribbeck said it was also a day to celebrate the accomplishments of their teachers and staff at East.

• Stephanie Coggins was Iredell-Statesville Schools Assistant Principal of the Year finalist
• Jenni Johnson was I-SS Instructional Facilitator of the Year.
• Colleen Marlow, bookkeeper, was I-SS Office Support Personnel of the Year finalist.
• Elise Scholar is I-SS EC instructional support staff of the year.
• Adriana Balcero is the ISS district ESL teacher of the third quarter.
• Akari Bailey is the I-SS district ESL teacher of the second quarter.

“It’s all a reflection of all of their hard work and dedication that they put in,” Ribbeck said.

East Iredell is a Stephen Covey Lighthouse School since 2017, a feat that only a couple of other Leader in Me schools in North Carolina have achieved.

The Leader in Me program is based on the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and is designed to empower students with confidence, speaking skills and leadership skills to be successful. Students set personal and academic goals while tracking the progress. They take on leadership roles to help improve our entire school through a number of student activities.

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