Community events like Mesquite ISD's Read Play Talk festival allows students to showcase their leadership skills and make a positive impact on their community.Â
Community events like Mesquite ISD's Read Play Talk festival allows students to showcase their leadership skills and make a positive impact on their community.Â
Mesquite ISD, in partnership with the city, is on a path to fulfill its promise to develop emerging community leaders and become a more inclusive environment for students.
At a Monday board of Trustees meeting, Leadership and Empowerment Director Ladonna Gulley presented some recent initiatives to help develop and encourage leadership within the student body while making schools a more welcoming environment.
At each of Mesquite ISD’s campuses, a Leadership and Empowerment Team (LET) captain has been assigned to work with a team of students to develop a campus culture and branding to engage reach more students and get them involved in their schools, Gulley said. Additionally, the district has aimed to foster student leaders who will take active roles in their community.
Gulley said that the district has implemented a four-year program where students will develop key skills to become valuable parts of their community. Beginning in ninth grade, students will learn about influential leaders from a diverse range of backgrounds and how each leader made an impact on their community. In 10th and 11th grades, students will then learn how to develop their own leadership skills before taking on a multitude of leadership opportunities within their own communities, Gulley said.
In addition to student engagement, the district has worked with its teachers to promote a teaching style that highlights students’ strengths to better help them understand certain concepts in the classroom. From February through August, Gulley outlined multiple workshops where teachers and staff will learn how to foster more student leaders in the classroom.
Through avenues like the LET’s Talk and LET’s Talk: Conversemos podcasts, community events, presentations and more, Mesquite ISD has also engaged community members to provide opportunities for students to showcase their leadership skills while talking about ways to continue fostering more engagement.
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Winston Henvey is the reporter for the Mesquite News, Allen American and Plano Star Courier. Email him with story suggestions at whenvey@starlocalmedia.com.
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