Oak Mountain Elementary School Principal Debbie Horton and her faculty were surprised in a faculty meeting after school on August 14  with an announcement the school was the grand prize winner of a leadership grant given by Franklin Covey The Leader in Me program.  The $2,500 was the largest of five grants given by the company, which also gave $500 grants to four other schools across the nation.

According to Pamela Baggett, all schools which purchased new Leader in Me student leadership guides from mid-April to the end of May were entered into a special promotional drawing for the grant awards. The schools can use the grants however they choose to enhance their school’s Leader In Me process.

“This was part of a special promotion in conjunction with our brand new student leadership guides,” said Baggett. “They have recently been revamped to make them much more rich and interactive. They have more lessons and are aligned to the school’s Leader in Me content standards.”

Horton said she was completely surprised by the announcement, but she already has plans for the money.  Horton said the school’s Physical Environment Action Team, which has played a pivotal role in many of the school’s new Leader in Me focused murals, wanted to do something outside so that everyone driving by knows that the school is a Leader in Me school.   The school’s PTO already has raised the funds to replace outdated signage in the front of the school, but this grant money will be helpful in brainstorming ways to also promote the Leader in Me program outside.

“We want the outside of the school to also reflect what is going on inside the school,” Horton said. “We have done a great job with our environment inside with our new murals throughout the school, but we want to make sure that people driving by are also aware of the great things we are doing.”