CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Exploring Potential is a comprehensive character and leadership development program for high school students, teachers and administrators.  The purposes of the program are twofold; first, to help set a life direction for each student by introducing themes that develop valuable life skills, and secondly, to help teachers and administrators develop their leadership approach, both for this program, but also as teams of educators working together.  

Exploring Potential uses a participatory process that introduces young adults to leadership through the Institute’s “inside-first” framework.   The program is centered on core values and key principles, with one principle given significant focus during each month of the school year. The themes are; core values, respect, perseverance, positive attitude, integrity, responsibility, trust, and goals.

Core values are addressed at the beginning of each year and integrated into the overall mission of the school.  Goals are included in the last few weeks of each school year through a “storyboarding” process.

This comprehensive program will include the following components:

1. Sponsors will be found to underwrite all costs to an interested school
2. Teachers and administrators become oriented to the program by taking a program of their own entitled A Heart for Teaching
3. Exploring Potential will be kicked-off each year by the individual school principal, school district superintendent, and/or school board president
4. At the individual school level, parents get involved at the very start by working at home with their students in identifying their core values using the Institute’s deck of Values Cards. Periodically, students bring home their workbooks for consultation on selected
5. Most weeks on Tuesday students will write in their Future Leaders Journal and then discuss their responses for 10-15 minutes in homeroom class
6. Each month speakers will be brought to the school to focus on the selected theme, either to all-school assemblies or to special evening programs.  Speakers will include local community leaders, alumni, and authors.  A DVD of relevant film clips will be supplied to punctuate the themes
7. The program concludes each school year by having students present their “life plan” on storyboards using photographs and clipped magazine art