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Leader Valley is located in three communities — Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and Waverly, Iowa. Leader Valley prepares pre-K-12 students for life by providing them with the essential employability skills needed for a life of effectiveness and a competitive advantage in the workforce. The premier initiative of Leader Valley is the Leader in Me.

Business leaders across the Cedar Valley have identified a gap in the essential skills that potential employees possess. Our business leaders recognize they need to be part of the solution to a problem they identified and have partnered with our Cedar Valley schools to help prepare the next generation of talent that will work and live in our community.

Leader Valley has been in the works for many years and was formalized in 2012 by the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber and has since grown and is governed by its own board of directors. The first Leader in Me schools started in 2010 and were North Cedar Elementary in Cedar Falls and Dr. Walter Cunningham School of Excellence in Waterloo.

Leader in Me is an international initiative sponsored by FranklinCovey and based on the seminal work of Dr. Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Leader in Me is a school-wide process dedicated to transforming the leadership culture and performance at our Cedar Valley schools. In addition to the 7 Habits, Leader in Me has three other principle focuses:

• Developing essential soft skills in all students
• Identifying and nurturing the gifts and talents of all students
• Providing authentic and leadership opportunities for all students

For information about Leader In Me, click here.

Leader in Me is a transformational process that impacts the culture of our schools, elevates students as leaders, and empowers them as learners.

For more information, click here

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People are a set of common sense principles developed by Dr. Stephen Covey. These core principles are a guide for a life of effectiveness.  To see a complete illustration, click here!

Schools first explore Leader in Me by going through a Pre-work phase. During this time, educators in a school are encouraged to read about Leader in Me, as well as visit Leader in Me schools so they see first-hand what Leader in Me is doing to transform school cultures.
After a school has committed to Leader in Me, they start their first module of trainings, which includes Vision Training, 7 Habits Training, Implementation Training, and Lighthouse Team Training. These trainings are all focused on the establishment of a school leadership culture.
The second module of trainings includes Empowerment Training and Achieving Schoolwide Goals. These trainings are focused on tying academics to leadership and student empowerment.

Leader in Me looks the same at all levels in many regards. For example, all schools are working to empower students as leaders and engage them as learners. All students in all Leader in Me schools have the opportunity to engage in classroom and school-wide roles.

What looks different at each level is how they do that. The elementary implementation for Leader in Me is very foundational. Students learn about the 7 Habits, are identifying their gifts and talents, and are provided developmentally appropriate leadership roles. As students progress through different levels of school, they have increasingly more responsibilities and opportunities to develop as leaders, apply the 7 Habits, and utilize their gifts and talents at an individual, classroom, and school-wide level. There are a range of quality materials available for students and educators at the elementary, middle, and high school levels that support the leadership opportunities they have.

Leader in Me is an opportunity for your child to be part of a transformational school culture, where students are empowered to be learners and more engaged in their learning. Students learn the value and application of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, they learn to identify and utilize their gifts and strengths, they are exposed to authentic leadership opportunities, and they learn the essential soft skills needed to be effective in college, career, and citizenship!

Leader in Me is a long-term investment into the Cedar Valley’s future workforce. By investing in our young people now, we are helping to create a stronger pool of talent for you and your business to choose from. Your future workforce is learning the value and application of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, they learn to identify and utilize their gifts and strengths, they are exposed to authentic leadership opportunities, and they learn the essential soft skills needed to be effective in college, career, and citizenship!

Leader in Me is an opportunity for your students to be part of a transformational school culture, where they are empowered to be learners and more engaged in their learning. In a Leader in Me school culture, students take the lead in their learning with a new set of leadership skills. Students learn the value and application of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, they learn to identify and utilize their gifts and strengths, they are exposed to authentic leadership opportunities, and they learn the essential soft skills needed to be effective in college, career, and citizenship! More importantly, they are on track to be engaged learners and responsible leaders in your classroom.

Please contact Melissa Reade, Leader Valley Director at melissa@leadervaley.org.