Elementary Leadership Day, Student Service Projects Aim To Help

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MI — Marie C. Graham Elementary School will host their third annual Leadership Day and annual “Graham Gives Back” events on Dec. 19 from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. Leadership Day is a student-run event designed to demonstrate the leadership skills developed through the Leader in Me program, in which Graham has participated for three years.

During Leadership Day, students demonstrate how they incorporate the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People into their classroom routine by leading guests on tours of the building, emceeing the opening and closing ceremonies, greeting guests at registration, giving testimonials and more.

The theme for this year’s Leadership Day is “Lead the World, Make it a Better Place!” and is tied into the school’s annual “Graham Gives Back” celebration. Each grade level/tour group has selected a theme related to giving back and will be completing service projects that tie into those themes throughout the event.

All projects were selected by the students, some of whom have very close connections to these causes. Students will be working on the following themes and service projects:
• Kindness (kindergarten): creating hand-made ornaments and singing songs for residents at Oakmont Assisted Living Home in Sterling Heights
• Hope (first grade): creating activity baskets with word searches, crossword puzzles, etc. for cancer patients at Detroit Medical Center
• Caring (second grade): creating treat bags and cage liners for Macomb County Animal Shelter
• Compassion (third grade): collecting hygiene items, clothing and school supplies for homeless students in Macomb County
• Comfort (fourth grade): creating fleece tie blankets for patients at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital
• Empathy (fifth grade): creating art kits for children in St. Johns Pediatric Oncology Unit

In lieu of charging for the event, the school requests that guests bring donations of hats, gloves, socks or hygiene items to support the third-graders’ service project.

Photo by Susanne Nilsson via Flickr Commons