"The Lead It Forward work that Ed Maggart and his group did with both our fifth graders, at the end of the school year, and our faculty and staff, at the beginning of the school year, was transformational. The adventure activities especially took us outside of our comfort zones and helped us build stronger community ties with our coworkers. It was a professional development opportunity that won’t be forgotten!"
DESCRIPTION
The Experiential Ed team provided an active and engaging two day leadership program for the entire graduating class of The Fay School, a progressive preK-5 school in Houston, Texas.
Subsequently, TFS has brought Ed and his team back to facilitate a two-day experience for the entire faculty and staff, and asked Ed to be on the strategic planning committee for the school, as well as return to provide more professional development for the faculty.
Who
Ed Maggart, Scott McClintock, Ali Lien, Doc Klein, Dr. Anna Switzer, Sara Hunter
The Fay School (TFS) was interested in having a team come in to provide an active two day experience for their graduating class of 5th graders to serve as a culmination to their leadership program that all students participate in beginning in 1st grade. Ed spent many hours reviewing the current program and the foundations for it including Emotional Intelligence, Clifton Strengths, and an extensive curriculum the school had developed. Based on this and multiple discussions with 5th grade teachers, Ed and his team devised and implemented a program that included: day one - adventure activities, consideration of leadership in the context of systems thinking, decision making, and reflection, and day two - the program focused on 5th graders leading activities for 3rd and 4th graders to mentor them toward becoming future leaders of the school.
The success of the program led the school to ask Ed and his team to implement a similar two-day program for all faculty and staff before school started the following fall, which included communication and leadership in the context of their work together. In addition, TFS has asked Ed to join a year long strategic planning process and provide more professional development for teachers.
