The LeadershipHigh.com tool-kit has been prepared for you by our staff and students and hope it can be of benefit to your school student and want to develop some of these ideas at your school or in your community, you should contact an advisor at your school. All advisors and to your personal development as a leader. If you are a are welcome to take any of this information to use at their schools for the purpose of leadership development. LeadershipHigh.com does not claim to have all the answers in the development and execution of a leadership program. Quite the contrary there is much that you as students and advisors, who are active in an ongoing leadership program, can bring to the discussion of leadership at the high school level. We welcome your input and we want you to be part of the growing team of leaders networking for new ideas, partnering with business and community organizations, and rewarding those students, teachers, and business leaders who have dedicated their time to the goal of student leadership. High School Students may not know

what they want to do with their lives, but many know they want to be leaders. Leadership Programs can help the child who is unmotivated or disenchanted turn their life around.

Leadership skills and leadership opportunities can help students merge into the mainstream Improve self-esteem Lower behavioral difficulties Leadership Programs instill pride and confidence in young people. Leadership Begins By Demanding Excellence from Yourself.

1. The Leadership Honors Program.

High School Students can earn Leadership Honors during the 2000-2001 school year. Every day, in high schools across Maryland, students make good decisions and bad decisions. We all know the choices young people make today, have a tremendous impact on their futures. The decision to become a leader can be a very important one. When a high school student makes a decision to become a leader, this choice can make a difference in the young person's life.

The Leadership Honors Program has become available to all high school students in Maryland.

The Leadership Honors Program acknowledges the decision to

become a leader.

In order to earn Leadership Honors, students must have excellent attendance in school, achievement in the classroom, and a commitment to leadership. The requirements are difficult and students will be challenged every day to come to school and do their best.

Their hard work will pay off.

They will have earned Leadership Honors for their high school transcript. They will have earned Leadership Honors for their college applications. They will have earned

Leadership Honors for their resumes when they begin their

professional careers. They will have earned Leadership Honors for the rest of their lives.

Requirements for Leadership Honors

1. Exemplary attendance record for the entire school year.

2. 2.5 grade point average

3. Excellent Character references.

4. An involvement in four leadership activities during the course of the year.

5. Students must fill out a Leadership Honors Application

6. Students will receive their award at the end of school year.

The Leadership Honors Program was created in the summer of 2000 with the purpose of providing leadership opportunities to high school students who are already involved in leadership activities and would like recognition for their

achievements, and for those young men and women who have always known that they wanted to be leaders but never felt like they had the opportunity. The Leadership Honors Program encourages all high school students who have the desire to become a leader to apply for Leadership Honors.

The Leadership Honors program focuses on attendance, achievement, attitude and leadership.

1. Attendance-It is vital that candidates to the Leadership Honors Program have an excellent attendance rate. we feel that a high attendance rate can be met by students who demand excellence from themselves. We understand that some students become seriously ill during their high school tenure and we have developed a waiver for such a concern. As our 21st century high school graduates enter the world of work, they will become valuable members of the work-force by being on the job.

2. Achievement-We are requiring students maintain at least a 2.5 average during the school year, and are not allowed any failures.

3. Attitude-Self-Discipline and character are the most important components of leadership and students are encouraged to respect the rules and regulations of their school

4. Students must be involved in at least 4 leadership activities

during the school year. They can be in any area such as performing arts, leadership training, student government, athletics, etc.

The Leadership March started in March of 2000 at Kent Island High

School with the goal raising money to help the oppressed around the world. This year, the Leadership March campaign will be encouraging other school to participate in this event. It is

set-up very simply. The Leadership March runs from the 1st of

March to the 31st of March, thus the name Leadership March. Money should be collected by class, and each day the money should be turned into the Finance Officer of the school. Our country is founded on the principle of individual freedoms, and we have

fought for our rights, or what we thought we ought to do. But what we forget are is that we can do a tremendous amount of good not just for our selves but for others as well. We are raising money to free people less fortunate then us, those who are being held in bondage, as Americans it is our duty and privilege to help them, to stand for what we as a nation believe. We cannot stand for this intolerable treatment of our fellow humans, we must not turn a blind eye as Thomas Jefferson once said,"In matters of fashion flow with the river, in matters of principle stand like a rock." Be a leader and show that you care, take the first step that will lead to the end of the tyrannical institution of slavery once and for all. There are about 27,000,000 slaves in this world, 27,000,000 to many.

3. Senior Leadership Day

Seniors at participating schools are invited to join us for Senior Leadership Day-Class of 2001. On this day high school

seniors will learn about leadership from those who know as much

about leadership as anyone. The teachers, administrators, and staff at their high school. Students are required to fill out an application form and present it to the staff member they are

interested in working with. Once the staff member has approved

the application, students and staff members should work together to create a dynamic engaging lesson(or plan of action for those in non-teaching assignments) The day will provide leadership development opportunities for 50-100 seniors. Senior Leadership Day augments what many schools have as a traditional Senior Teach Day. To add the leadership component recognizes teachers as leaders and recognizes their dedication to the classroom and provides a chance to share with the graduating seniors the amount of work needed to be an effective teacher and leader in the classroom.

4. Maryland High School Leadership Conference

The Maryland High School Leadership Conference will be held as an

annual event to promote leadership statewide, and to encourage schools and leadership programs to work together to build a dynamic coalition of leaders statewide. We are quite happy with

the response we have received at this years Conference, and we

hope that on the future this can be one of the many leadership traditions for years to come.

Maryland High School Leadership Conference Workshops:

1. Resume writing and Interviewing

2. Student Roundtable

3. Character Counts

4. Leadership March

5. Professional Development

6. Business Roundtable

7. Leadership Club

5. Holiday Toy Drive

The Holiday Toy Drive is really a 2 part event. Part 1 consists of the collection of new toys. Part 2 is a Holiday Party that is thrown for the families a week or so before Christmas. The high school cafeteria is an ideal location for such an event. Here are the steps to take in order to have a successful Holiday Toy Drive. The first step is to contact your local Social Services. They have a list of all the families that are in need for the year. the list changes every year. Some families are able to be

taken off the list, while other families are added. It is very

important to remember to respect the confidentiality of the names of the families on the list, and to remind students that all of us in our lives at some point in our lives need a helping hand. My experience having organized toy drives since 1990 is that the high school students are the ones who benefit from the experience far more than anyone they help, although the families are always grateful for the help they receive. The second step of the Holiday Toy Drive is to begin publicizing the event. The local

newspapers and media outlets should be contacted. Student

leaders should create an informational news-clip that can readily be sent out to all the local media outlets that can go in the local newspapers. Students should develop an announcement that can be read to the school beginning the day after Thanksgiving. The announcement can read something like this "The Toy Drive has begun at our high school. We are asking that you bring in a new,

unwrapped toy this holiday season. Our goal is to collect 1,000 toys for the families in our community. if each of you brings in one toy, we can meet our goal. Share in the Holiday spirit of giving by participating in the Leadership Club’s Holiday Toy Drive. We are also in need of tape and wrapping paper. Thanks for all your support." DECA is a great resource for marketing. If there is a DECA Club at your school, partner with them and students can work together to create a marketing plan for the Toy Drive. This is also a wonderful Service Learning Activity for high school students, and they can earn some of the mandated hours need for graduation. The third step is to set-up toy boxes around your school and in your community. Decorate large boxes with wrapping paper and place them strategically in the front

office, in the guidance office, and in classrooms of participating teachers. Boxes can also be placed in your neighborhood grocery and department store once you are given

permission from store management.

6.Leadership Newsletter-This can be a monthly or BI-monthly

publication. This can also become a blended activity along with the Journalism and English classes. Student leaders should be encouraged to locate a sponsor or sponsors in order to finance the newsletter. The recommendation is to ask local businesses for fifty dollars for a small block advertisement

7. School-Business Partnership-DaySchool Business Partnership

Day: The relationship with the Business Community can be the most important relation your leadership program can involve itself in. The support of the business community can enhance any event or project started at your high school. A meeting with your local Chamber of Commerce can be a great opportunity to share a vision of excellence that will encourage chamber to become involved in your leadership activities. The contributions they can be made by your local leaders can be made in the form of sponsorships, mentoring, and in many other areas as well. Every spring we hold a Business Partnerships Day where members of the community come

together and show their support for the leadership program. This

can be one of the most daunting tasks a leadership committee can have to contend with. One has to initially think like a business

person when extending the invitations to the local members of the

chamber to come to your event. We offer what we call a Business Conference/Business Fair. The Business Conference is a coffee breakfast and hour-long meeting where the leadership program and opportunities for involvement are explained. After the conference, the businesses are invited to set-up a table in the gymnasium and promote their company or organization. We charge a ten dollar fee for the businesses to attend. This covers costs for awards that we hand out to students and staff for their

participation in this event. Last year we had over 70 businesses

who came to the Business Conference/Business Fair, and they were all glad to donate the ten dollar fee to the leadership program. The result was we were able to raise over seven hundred dollars from this one day. The most difficult part of the Business Conference/Business Fair is contacting and informing the

businesses about the event. Postage can be expensive, so

alternative methods of communication are available thanks to modern technology. E-mails and faxes may not be as formal but are very cost-effective, and actually can bring a quicker response and turn-around time. If you have the budget and cans send letters. most Chamber of Commerce offices have mass mailing they can send to you free of charge. The Queen Anne's Chamber of

Commerce and it's Executive Director Doug Shreve have been most helpful in our quest to for success in various ventures especially the Business Conference/Business Fair. Doug has incorporated our leadership program one of the official programs of the Chamber of Commerce. He has supported us and given us a good name in the community. One of course has to keep a good thing going, and anytime we get the chance to help out the Chamber, we do. Last Spring we sent a group of students to help with the annual Bridge-Walk that is famous all over the region. it is simply our way of saying thanks for the all the support we have received. The schedule for the Business Conference should be set-up something like this: The morning should begin with a continental breakfast for the business community and the other invited guests. After everyone has arrived and had as chance to have a cup of coffee, the meeting can begin. We like to start the meeting at 8am and try not to run any later than 9am. This allows those who have to go to work the opportunity to make a graceful exit. We also open the gym up at 630am until 8am for those participating in the Business Fair the chance to set-up their display table. Tables can sometimes be a commodity so if your school doesn't have any than one can look at the local fire departments, churches or the main headquarters of the Board

of Education. Most of the organizations are very supportive of events such as this. Just be sure to return the tables immediately after using them, and in the same or better condition that they came in. That way when you need to use the same tables next year, they will be willing to lend them out again. We also like to remind the participants to bring their own table cover as it is difficult and expensive to supply them. Once the display tables are set-up and the guests are attending the conference, we always have a few students watch the tables for security purposes, primarily to ease the minds of the participating members. During the business conference we like to have students, staff, members from the Board, and members from the community discuss the importance of the School-business Partnership, and the impact that a positive relationship can have on the high school students. Guests are reminded that it is everyone’s job to create morally significant young people. The vision that this initiative creates is a win-win for the whole community. The best way to end the conference is to showcase what the students have done during the course of the year. It is indeed a "pitch to the business community for support, but the payoffs are great.

We have established many excellent relationships with organizations such as Verizon, Sam's Club, and Ledo Pizza just to name a few. A successful business partnership day can mean

support year round for your leadership program.

8.Senior Thank You

The Senior Thank You, (also know as the "Graduate’s Gratitude") is another tradition that LeadershipHigh.com is proud to be a part of. This is an opportunity for graduating seniors to thank those who have helped them along the way, become who they are,

and to thank their friends, teachers, parents, and staff, who have been very special to them. Each senior can write up to 500 words and sponsors are sought out to help defray the publishing costs. The goal of the Senior Thank You is to have every senior

contribute. This is indeed a challenging goal, but a very worthwhile on The Senior thank you can be distributed during graduation week as part of the festivities. How elaborate the Senior Than k you will be is entirely up to the leadership program. An student editor should be selected to oversee the publication and should be responsible for the following deadlines:

Handing out the senior Thank you forms which should include an explanation of what the Senior Thank You is all about and an example of an entry that models what you are looking for. The Senior Thank you can most efficiently be passed out in the English classes. A list of all the seniors taking English during the second semester can be taken from your school's database. We use the osiris system which is quite handy for tracking down members of the senior class. There might be a handful of students who are not taking senior English and who might be involved in dual enrollment and they can be contacted through their Guidance

Counselor or leadership students can set-up a table at lunch in order to gain awareness of the upcoming publication. Seniors should be given a deadline. During the last few months of school seniors have quite a bit on their mind and need to be reminded in order to get a quality turnout of seniors. The rewards are great, and every senior that contributes to the Senior Thank You has a treasure for posterity and so many parents and teachers are grateful for the kind words that come out of a publication such as this.

9.Leadership Essay Contest-The theme of the essay contest can

change from year to year. Last years contest asked students to choose a quality of leadership that they admire, and name a person that fit that quality. A prize can be donated by a local

business or community group. For the past two years, the PTSA

has donated a TV/VCR combo that was given to the winner. Second prize both years received a gift certificate for $50.00 from a local business.

10. Leadership Studies Class

Overview of the Leadership Studies Class

1. Students will define leadership and be able to show examples of leadership and some of the significant leaders both contemporary and historical.

2. Students should define their personal values and beliefs this will allow students the opportunity to clarify their important values and beliefs.

3. Goal Setting: Teaching students to formulate and write goals

both personal and team(class goals)

a. Students should each select 20 goals. Ten should be personal

and ten should be team-oriented, and should reflect the leadership goals of the class and or the school. For example a personal goal might be to improve attendance, take on a leadership role in a school activity, or devote more time to helping the needy. A team goal might be to collect 1,000 toys for the Holiday Toy Drive, or to have 200 applications for Leadership Honors.

4. Plan of Action: Students will write an Action Plan for each goal. For the 10 personal goals each student must write his or her own. For the team goals, one copy can be presented as written by the team. For each action plan, students should decide who is

going to be responsible, the timetable for completion, what

resources are needed, and an evaluation process. Students should then prepare a chart for their Action Plan. On the chart should be what is in the Action Plan.

5. Communication: The importance of listening and being aware of

non-verbal communication such as body language.

6. Leadership styles: How individuals become accomplished leaders, and how students can develop their own leadership style.

7. Team Building: How individuals contribute to a team accomplishing its goals.

8. Ethical Decision Making: Students will us the Character Counts

model for this component.

9. Mentoring: How to be a mentor and ways to mentor

10. Evaluation: Reflections on leadership