Nurturing the future leaders!!

CAT (Children Advisory Team)– Nurturing the future leaders!!!

We, at SMIS, want our children to influence the world he or she lives in, rather than merely be influenced by it. We educate them to make a difference, not just make a living. So, we try to nurture the leader within each child.

 We believe that a leader is not the person at the front, the person with a title, the loudest person or the bossiest person. A  leader is rather a person who sees – and shows – the way forward, especially during setbacks; communicates big ideas simply; celebrates the accomplishments of others; has the capacity to learn, share knowledge and change; helps people to see problems differently; understands leadership is not control and gives others the chance to show their talents to get things done.
 We firmly believe that every child is a leader. Children have the skills, capability and capacity to lead themselves, others, small teams, the school and friends. Whether they put themselves forward or not, most of them will have to lead at some point in their lives.

But are the good leaders natural or to be nurtured? Research suggest that all children have potential leadership skills, we only have to nurture that. We can only influence the kind of leaders they will become through our guidance. Hence at SMIS, we design strategies  to help children develop their innate leadership skills so that they can use them effectively throughout their lives.By giving children a role in decision-making at an early age, we foster the critical thinking skills necessary to be an effective leader. We try to provide wide variety of opportunities that help students learn and practice essential leadership skills within a learning community.

As a part of this, we have introduced CAT (Children Advisory Team), wherein the students will have a say in almost all the aspects in school. The students of grade 1 to 5 will be given the authentic experience of electing their leaders through the secret ballot system. Students of  grade 3,4 and 5 will apply for the various spectrum of leadership like Assembly leaders, Arrival/Departure Leaders, Event Leaders, Choir Leaders, Discipline Leaders, Uniform Leaders,  Class Representatives, Vice- President (only for grade 4 students) and President (only for grade 5 students). The applicants will face the interview which will be taken by a panel of mentors, and if they are found eligible, a Nomination Ticket will be issued to them. The nominees will then propagate and request their peers to vote for them. The propaganda will stop before 48 hours of the election. . A special ballot paper will be designed for the purpose and each child will vote on the same and deposit their ballot papers in the ballot boxes. After they have cast their votes they will also have a sign on their nails to avoid repeated voting. Once the voting for the committee members from grades 3 and 4 is completed, the elected members will form the Council of Ministers and these Council of Ministers will vote for their President from grade 5. This is how the students will elect their leaders. We, the mentors, will proudly facilitate this process of evolution of the future leaders!! This is surely a wonderful, thrilling and exciting endeavor! To know the student-leaders of SMIS, Jamnagar, keep in touch and don’t miss our next update the next week!
                                                                     -      Jully Bathia