Elliot Lake’s Our Lady of Lourdes French Immersion Catholic School is being recognized as a Leader in Me School. The program started in mid-2022 and was shared with staff at that time, said the school's vice principal, Nadia Zanatta.
“Leader in Me was officially launched and shared with our students as of Jan. 4, during our first assembly of 2023,” Zanatta said.
“The designation news was officially shared with the staff in June 2022, during a working lunch, when superintendent Fil Lettieri, past principal of Our Lady of Lourdes French Immersion, presented about the process to generate the interest of the staff,” she said. “Also in June, principal Stephane Prevost and Vice Principal Nadia Zanatta visited St. Basil’s in Sault Ste. Marie, as they have been embarking on this journey for the last few years.
British Columbia resident Mike Suto is the school’s coach and he visited in October and November to provide the seven habits of highly effective people training to all members of the staff (teaching, support, administration, clerical, and custodial).
Suto is a support for the school and will be working with it for the next three years in this coaching/mentoring partnership.
The three components of Leader in Me are leadership, culture, and academics. The focus of this process is to teach leadership to every student, create a culture of student empowerment, and align systems to drive academics.
The Leader in Me is a process aimed at teaching foundational principles and skills that are widely accepted as essential to personal leadership.
As an evidence-based, comprehensive model, the program builds leadership and life skills in students, creates a high-trust school culture, and lays the foundation for academic success, Zanatta said.
“Leader in Me embodies a holistic approach to education, redefining how schools measure success,” the vice principal added.
For the first year of the program, the school will focus on exposing students to the seven habits of highly effective people, which are the core of Leader in Me.
Zanatta also lauded the wealth of resources available to support the Leader in Me process saying the school and its larger community are starting to see many visual representations of the program in classrooms, hallways, and beyond.
Exterior signage (Leadership Starts Here) was installed in September and represents the branding of Leader in Me.
“Within the Leader in Me process, staff training - student training - parent and community engagement - whole school leadership development - school coach/mentor - and so much more are involved,” she said.
Lourdes is the second Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board school to take on the process.
“Schools from all over the world are involved, and we are the next,” Zanatta said. “Within our jurisdiction, the next closest Leader in Me school, aside from St. Basil, within our board, is in the Sudbury area, as well as in Michigan.
“We are looking forward to fully launching the Leader in Me process with all of our Lourdes students in every classroom from kindergarten to Grade 8,” principal Prevost said.
“Teaching the seven habits of highly effective people will have a huge impact on how we function as a school community and how students learn by empowering them to fully contribute to the school’s leadership culture," Prevost added. "The energy that this is creating within our whole school, staff, students and families is remarkable.”
Zanatta also related her personal experience with the Leader in Me and how it inspired her.
“It was an amazing experience to visit St. Basil School in Sault Ste. Marie, to see the Leader in Me alive within a school. It gave me great energy to create a vision of what this would look like within our school.
"Students are curious. We have the full support of our Catholic School Council, and parents are excited,” Zanatta added. “The philosophy of Leader in Me aligns with the various initiatives, community outreach, and leadership opportunities within the vision and culture of our school, creating a very meaningful connection.
"I look forward with so much anticipation for what is to come. Understanding the seven Habits and speaking a common language promotes learning - and this is why it was so important to involve all members of staff, as we all have a relationship with the students.”
This year, the school will focus on exposure to the seven habits of highly effective people, creating a foundation for student understanding.
“The launch assembly for the Leader In Me was much anticipated,” said Chantal Tellier, Me Lighthouse team coordinator. “As the coordinator of the Lighthouse team, sharing with the students and parents this amazing initiative that our school has been given the privilege to have was beyond exciting. Even though we did our best to describe what’s to come, the students have no idea of the impact that Leader In Me will have on our school environment.
"Every adult was given the skills to use, encourage and promote the seven habits in the Leader in Me process in order to have every child find their inner leadership skills," Tellier added. "I keep telling my Grade 3-4 students that this will still be happening in our school when they graduate! As we move forward, evidence will be seen in every aspect: school environment, academics and especially the social interactions between every person (adults and students).”
The Leader in Me Lighthouse team is composed of six staff members who work together to oversee the components of Leader in Me at Lourdes and include members Chantal Tellier (coordinator), Marni Kay, Marlene Essex, Angela Grier, Lynn Trudel, Nadia Zanatta.