Northport K-8 Media Services program held its third Leadership Summit recently just in time to commemorate Veterans Day. The Leadership Summit is an authentic example of student Inquiry about Leadership skills and what qualities are necessary to become a great leader. The Leadership Summits, held on a monthly basis, incorporate community leaders as primary source guests. The guests make the most of the focused and well formulated student questions by talking about their own careers and experiences and the leadership skills necessary to maintain and build their careers with aplomb. The first guests were Florida State Representative, Gayle Harrell and Fort Pierce Deputy City Manager, Nick Mimms. The guests at the third summit were fourteen local veterans from all branches of the military. Students asked hard ball questions such as, “Can you explain to us about what is happening in the Middle East and what is ISIS,” ” What is a Purple Heart and have any of you earned one? If so, can you talk to us about your life and death experiences?” “Can you tell us about PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how does PTSD affect our community?” “Would you recommend the military for females at this time and why,” “Can you explain about the educational benefits of enlisting in the military,” and “Can you tell us about your deployments and the weapons that you have used.” The middle school students came up with a list of leadership qualities that they can aspire to throughout the programming including:
1. You must love the people you lead
2. You need to be flexible
3. Must be organized
4. You must respect your people and the jobs they do and the issues they face
5. You must be capable of seeing the “Big Picture”
6. You must give lots of positive feedback
7. Humor is vital for a great leader to exhibit
8. You must be a constant learner
9. You must have Integrity at all times.
Veteran guests included: John Holdorf, Bill Arnold, Peter Popolizio, Charles Lomonaco, Marvin Rhoden, Jack Irvin, Harold Trieber, David Rubenstein, William Armstrong, Dr. Myles Gill, Hal Rippinger, Lee McDonald and Frank Berwick. The veterans served in all branches of the military with different jobs and ranks. Special thanks to Northport K-8 Veteran Partners in Education and a salute to all veterans that have served our country with honor and integrity.
Pictured is Northport eighth grade student, Finnegan Carey asking a focused question to the veteran forum. Finn’s father, Nick Carey is a teacher at the school and is also a veteran. Finn’s mother Jennifer serves Northport K-8 as a speech pathologist.
