Northport K-8 Media Center has initiated and developed a brand new program this year called “Leadership Summit!” Students are learning all about leadership skills and what qualities are required to be an effective and inspiring leader.
The vision of the program is to not only teach leadership skills through discussion and role modeling, but to bring in community leaders to talk to the students about their own leadership qualities and some of the prominent issues that they face each day. The first guest in September was Representative Gayle Harrell.
This month, our guest was Deputy City Manager, Nick Mimms. Mr. Mimms used the student driven format of questioning to talk about his roots in Ft. Pierce and his local education as well as his college education. Mr. Mimms answered often times very difficult questions formatted by students on the Northstar team of sixth, seventh and eighth grade students with a positive and community oriented focus. He fielded questions concerning the use of solar energy in Ft. Pierce, sidewalks on school routes, how to get street lights placed, red light ticket camera placements, water quality and environmental issues. He included information about the Indian River Lagoon and the steps that the City of Ft. Pierce are taking to keep the waters clean such as the drainage systems and the restriction of chemicals in the water.
Some of the more pointed questions that Mr. Mimms answered were, “Following the Ferguson, Mo. incidents, are their plans in place so that type of occurrence does not happen in our communities?” and “What is the city of Ft. Pierce and the police department doing about gang issues?” Mr. Mimms gave positive responses to students. He spoke about neighborhood watch groups, working together to reduce any racial divide and clear communication. He told the students, “Police are human beings, sometimes mistakes are made, but a good working relationship between community members , families and law enforcement is vital for the fabric of a healthy and strong community.”
Mr. Mimms was an excellent example of a great leader, a powerful and positive voice for the City of Ft. Pierce and a great role model for our students. He shook hands with many of the students and then continued on to a separate classroom to answer more discussion questions. A big thank you to Mr. Mimms for taking the time to make such an impact on our Northport students and making a great impression for the City of Ft. Pierce.
Pictured are Deputy City Manager Mimms and many of the Northstar students.
Special thanks to instructor Nick Carey for focusing and working with the students on the topics of discussion.
