Leadership Notebooks

Creating leaders at Cooper is an exciting process! One tool that we are using to help our students take charge of their learning is called a Leadership Notebook. This is a three-ring binder that each fifth and sixth grader owns, which contains data that they track about themselves.

The pages in these binders are created by teachers and are tailored to fit the needs of each child, but each student sets their own specific academic and personal goals. They then track their own progress. The content of the Leadership Notebooks evolves and changes throughout the year as students reach their goals and set new ones. Overall, it is an excellent tool that helps them take charge of their life!

 

Second Annual Walk-a-Thon

Thankfully the rain held off and the walk-a-thon itself was truly a celebration as the students came to school dressed in the colors of their favorite team (U of M or MSU) and enjoyed walking with their friends. We were also honored to have members of the Franklin marching band, cheerleaders and ROTC with us to help us celebrate! Many of these students were former Cooper students and they did a fabulous job! At the conclusion of the walk, all of the classes gathered on the blacktop to be congratulated on all of their hard work. The winning team (U of M) was announced by having the Franklin band play their fight song. Lastly, raffle tickets were drawn to determine who won the fabulous prizes.

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make our second annual walk-a-thon a huge success! Thanks to you, we not only met our goal, we exceeded it! This will help tremendously as we plan to use it to support the leadership culture here at Cooper.

Bully Prevention

The Leader in Me process helps build a culture where everyone is respected and feels valued. Sean Covey from FranklinCovey has written an article called Bully Prevention that explains how building strong leaders helps prevent bullying in our schools.

Only by working together can we make this happen.

Living the 7 Habits

Living the 7 Habits is a journey, but it is a life changing journey! We are working hard each day to live the habits at Cooper, and it is our hope that leadership and the 7 Habits becomes a daily part of our students' lives at home as well. A quick glimpse of the 7 Habits is listed below. 

1. Be Proactive ~ Habit of Choice ~ I am the product of my choices.
2. Begin With the End in Mind ~ Habit of Vision ~ I live by design.
3. Put First Things First ~ Habit of Integrity & Execution ~ I put important things first.
4. Think Win-Win ~ Habit of Mutual Benefit/Respect ~ There is plenty out there for everyone and more to spare.
5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood ~ Habit of Mutual Understanding ~ I listen with the intent to understand.
6. Synergize ~ Habit of Creative Cooperation ~ Together we can create a better way, a higher way.
7. Sharpen the Saw ~ Habit of Renewal ~ I nurture the goose that lays the golden eggs.

If you'd like to read more about how your family can incorporate the 7 Habits into their daily lives, we recommend the book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen Covey.

Welcome Back!

A new school year is filled with fresh beginnings, we look forward to leading and learning with you!

What is Leadership?

Cooper students were asked what leadership means to them, and this video was created to share their responses.

Leadership Day 2013

Cooper celebrated its second annual Leadership Day on Thursday, April 18. Over 90 guests participated in this special day where they not only learned about the 7 Habits and leadership, but also had the opportunity to witness our students serving as leaders throughout the entire morning. Students greeted the guests as they entered the building, got them registered, and escorted them to the library for the first presentation. Once they entered the library, the guests were once again greeted and then served breakfast by our student hosts. Our audience learned about the 7 Habits via student skits, enjoyed a musical performance by our vocal students, and were escorted by student tour guides to travel throughout the building to talk to students about how they are living the habits and how they are being integrated into the curriculum. After the tour, our guests enjoyed another musical performance by a group of our instrumental students and then had the opportunity to sit with students who shared their data notebooks. Lastly, everyone had the opportunity to ask questions of our student panel comprised of members from our Student Lighthouse Team. Cooper students shined as leaders! We are so proud of all of them and look forward to continuing along our journey of building a leadership culture at our school!