The Kids Today, Leaders Tomorrow program is a student leadership training day. With it, your school provides student leaders and teachers practical leadership skills. The program accommodates up to 30 students from one or more primary or high schools.

You can also send teachers for a full day for professional development on practical leadership skills. At the end of the student leadership activities, participating teachers receive PD certificates with their credit hours.

Student leadership activities are run by Ronit Baras over a full day of school and introduces students to challenges while providing them with tools to overcome them. This full training day is followed by an evening session with the student’s parents.

This includes going over their achievements throughout the day and an open discussion with parents about the challenges of writing a support letter, an integral part of the program which asks parents to write to their child to tell them how much they believe in them.

I loved the meaningful quotes . the activities are fun. I achieved ALL my goals for today. I have grown as a person AND a leader. I know this because I understand now. I KNOW what true leader is & I’m halfway there
Shakira Martins, School Captain, Year 7, Primary school, QLD, Australia

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Contents

What students learn from the student leadership skills training day

Goal setting – Student leaders learn the power behind purpose goal setting and expectations and how they impact our success.
Time management skills– Student leaders learn to estimate the time required to complete a task, be assertive and negotiate time.
Attitude to failure- Student leaders consider failure as an opportunity rather than an obstacle in their quest for a goal.
Traits of a leader – Student leaders learn the character traits of a leader, the importance of courage, taking calculated risks. They also learn how persistence, resilience and acceptance affect their performance in a positive way.
Public speaking skills– Student leaders learn ways to present their ideas in a confident, powerful and convincing way. They practice the most effective public speaking techniques and gain tools to express themselves is a very assertive and efficient way.
Creative leadership – Student leaders learn to appreciate their own uniqueness and consider options in a creative way.
Social skills– Student leaders learn the 15 social skills of a leader and the importance of developing these social skills in their leadership role.
Communication skills – Student leaders learn the power of language in communication and relationships. They learn to give and receive a feedback in a productive and empowering way and also given conversation tools to avoid conflict and enhance their group relationships.
Support structure – Student leaders understand the importance of their relationships with their families and how those relationships influence their leadership style and success.

I have grown more confidence and believe that you need to know where in life you want to go to get there
Ruby, School Captain, 12 years old

Emotional growth

During the training day students participate in a range of fun, interactive and challenging activities together with other students in their class/ school or with students from other schools.

As part of the day activities, students are asked to complete assignments with time pressure to develop decision making skills. They explore creativity and uniqueness as a leadership tool, examine their own personal values, plan and brainstorm in a team environment and develop flexibility.

They learn to collaborate, learn rapport and public speaking skills and they also receive letters of support from their parents, as a surprise, to help them understand the importance of their support structure.

I learned today how speaking is extremely nerve wracking and that sometimes, you have to pull through and never give up because I have learned that failing is only an opportunity in disguise and that you haven’t truly failed until you give up
Felix, School Captain, Leadership Camp (combination program), Year 7

In the evening session with the parents concluding the training day, most students and parents are very emotional and say it was a life changing experience for the students and for their parents.

I am taking from today that:

Every one is different in their own way

Always believe in yourself

Every body would have their own way of doing things

Everyone Thinks in their own way of thinking.

A fun day of memories

Katina Vendardos, UMGSS, Leadership Training in Primary school, 2012

The student leadership skills training day is not a regular leadership activity where students spend most of their time listening. We pride ourselves for taking students in the morning and sending them home at the end of the day with powerful leadership skills.

It takes one day, with the help of parents, to empower students to think differently about themselves and others. Students leave the training day more confident, resilient and assertive.

Today I learned how to be more confident and speak up. I also learned to never give up. Just keep trying!. I also learned to make the right decisions and how to speak on the spot
TeHanna, Mount Gravatt State School, QLD, Australia 2014

Their principals, teachers and parents report a significant and positive shift in their attitude towards themselves and those around them.

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Logistics and participant selection

The student leadership activities run between 9:00am to 3:00pm during the school term on school premises with up to 30 students. Schools can benefit from including any of the following groups of students:

Student leadership team
Entire class or selected students from a grade level, e.g. all the girls in Year 6
Selected students needing to develop leadership abilities, e.g. sports captains
Representatives from several schools in a “sister-school” project

Our records show that students who attended the Student Leadership Camp: Kids Leading Social Change after attending the student leadership training day had an advantage over their peers who only attended one of these programs and assumed more responsible positions at their school.

Information for parents

Once the school or a group of schools book a training day, parents receive an information pack detailing the activities covered during the student leadership training day. In this information pack, parents will be aware of the plan, objectives, get clear instructions on writing a support letter they need to provide, the evening session plan and what to expect once the kids get home.

Parents are also able to ask questions and direct them to the team before and after the training day.

The parent evening session is scheduled on the same day of the training for 2 hours on school grounds. Parents are required to bring a plate to share and students are asked to present things they have learned during the day.

Students receive the leadership manual printed by the school. This manual includes follow up activities teachers, team leaders or principal go over with the student leaders to reinforce the learned skills.

High school students also receive a FREE copy of the inspiring book Be Special Be Yourself for Teenagers by Ronit Baras (valued at $24.95) for each participant.

This book deals with uniqueness and acceptance . This is a great tool for parents to bridge the generation gap and is a recommended read both for parents and teachers to start the conversation on supporting teens in their quest for independence.

Student leaders also receive special quote cards to be used as reminders of values. Each student leader receives a certificate of completion presented to them in the evening with parents.

Participating teachers receive a professional development certificate with their credit hours based on the number of hours they attend in the training day.

Today I learned 18 rules. I learned how to negotiate time. I learned how to protect myself with the Spiderman circle and how to give a feedback with the sandwich technique. It was fun to hang out with Ronit and the other leadership team. I learned a lot and I wish it never ended
Renae Nona, Year 7, School Captain, Student Leadership Skills Training Day, QLD

More Information

Ronit Baras – The Leadership Coach

Ronit Baras is an educator, life coach, author, journalist and justice of peace. She has been using Emotional Intelligence techniques for 38 years with children of all ages in several countries (USA, Israel, Thailand, Singapore & Australia). She has developed a number of special programs, which have been hugely successful.

Ronit is currently teaching at the University of Queensland, training for institute of public administrators (IPAA) Queensland. She is the State Director of Together for Humanity Foundation and was the school program director of the Global Learning Centre. She has conducted many successful emotional intelligence programs and student leadership activities in Australia and overseas.

Ronit is an experienced and powerful presenter, delivering inspiring messages of love, respect, acceptance and determination to the people who attend her programs.

Ronit has helped thousands of students discover their strength and uniqueness and leverage them to succeed in school and life. She has been teaching, coaching, presenting and writing over 38 years. Her writing has been published in educational magazines around Australia.

Her parenting blog, “Family Matters”, is a great resource for thousands of parents and teachers with over 1500 articles on family life, parenting, personal growth and education and attracts 50,000 readers each month.

Research shows that investing in emotional intelligence and equipping student leaders with social and emotional management skills yields the best results. Ronit strongly believes that leadership is not a position but a state of mind that requires self-awareness, confidence, uniqueness, a positive mindset, courage, creativity and good social skills and that leaders are not born but made.

“It is our goal as educators to awaken the passionate leader within”, she says.