This lesson is part of a 13-part student leadership teaching series. Each lesson is broken down into seven parts:
- 1) TALK (an interactive question)
- 2) ACTIVITY TIME (A thought-provoking activity)
- 3) THE HEART OF THE MATTER (This is the value-based portion of the lesson)
- 4) TAKING IT FURTHER (The optional faith-based portion of the lesson)
- 5) DISCUSSION (Interactive questions to conclude the lesson)
- 6) TAKE ACTION (An action step to challenge participants)
- 7) OVERTIME (Extra activities to use at the teachers discretion)
This curriculium can be used with students in Small Groups, Sunday School, School Clubs or any other student setting.
KNOWING what’s right doesn’t mean much unless you DO what’s right -Theodore Roosevelt
TALK:
WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP? (Go around the room and have everyone answer)
Below are some actual responses from middle and high school leadership students:
- When you can stand for what you believe in
- Someone that you or someone else can look up to and believe what he/she says
- Someone people can look up to
- To have wisdom
- Making witty decisions to benefit others and going against the grain!
- Being respectful to others
- Helpful
- Don’t be afraid to step up and lead
- To be honest and have a strong voice
- Being a leader and not a follower – Tell people what to do when they need help
- Not afraid to be different
- Character – doing the right thing
Leadership — A leader is one who KNOWS the way, GOES the way and SHOWS the way – John C. Maxwell
ACTIVITY TIME: DISCUSSION BALL
Have your students stand in a circle and give them a topic that you want them to discuss. Then have them stand in a circle and toss the beach ball from person to person. Have students catch the ball and whatever letter his/her right thumb lands on they are to come up with a word that starts with that letter that deals with your power word. Below is a list of responses that a group of Junior High Students came up with on the topic of LEADERSHIP:
✦ A is for Attitude
✦ B is for Best Effort
✦ C is for Cooperation
✦ D is for Determination
✦ E is for Encouragement
✦ F is for Friendship
✦ G is for Good Feelings
✦ H is for Hope
✦ I is for Incredible
✦ J is for Joyful
✦ K is for Kind
✦ L is for Listening
✦ M is for Magnificent
✦ N is for Never give up
✦ O is for Opportunities
✦ P is for Persuasive
✦ Q is for Quality work
✦ R is for Responsibility
✦ S is for Success
✦ T is for Teamwork
✦ U is for Understanding
✦ V is for Voice
✦ W is for Win
✦ X is for X-treme
✦ Y is for You work hard and do your best
✦ Z is for Zebra (Everything is to blend together)
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not. -Dr. Seuss
THE HEART OF THE MATTER:
In the Thread of Hope Record’s after School program at Covert Public Schools, we have a leadership pledge that we chant every day before going to our interactive stations: I am a chosen youth leader who makes healthy choices. We believe EVERY student is a leader! The purpose of iLead is to instill the following qualities into all of our students:
- L.EADERSHIP (The ability to lead others with responsibility, character and communication)
- E.NRICHMENT (Enrich your life, your community and your world through service minded projects)
- A.TTITUDE (A positive “YES, WE CAN!” attitude towards School, Others, and Self)
- D.ECISION MAKING (We will learn a progression from NO DECISIONS, SNAP DECISIONS, to RESPONSIBLE DECISIONS
Through exciting activities, funny videos and inspiring stories, we will learn each step of the iLead system that will help us become world-changing leaders.
DISCUSSION:
(Go around the room and have everyone answer)
- Which of the following qualities — L.eadership, E.nrichment, A.ttitude, D.ecision Making — is the most difficult for you?
- Which of the following qualities — L.eadership, E.nrichment, A.ttitude, D.ecision Making — comes most naturally for you?
TAKING IT FURTHER: ATTRIBUTES OF A LEADER
The best word to describe leadership is – EXAMPLE! The older Apostle Paul tells the younger Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an EXAMPLE for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12 NIV).” Let’s take a step by step look at the checklist of someone who is an example:
- IN SPEECH – In all that you say in public and private. This includes what you post on social media — Facebook, twitter, instagram, snapchat, etc.
- IN CONDUCT – This means your behavior. It encompasses your whole manner of living. This is not a “Do as I say, but do as I do.”
- IN LOVE – John 13:34-35 tells us, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.“
- IN FAITH – This means fidelity or faithfulness, to be trustworthy. Let your yea be yea, and your nay be nay.
- IN PURITY – The purity of thought and character.
DISCUSSION:
(Go around the room and have everyone answer)
- Which of the above qualities — speech, conduct, love, faith, purity — stands out to you the most?
TAKE ACTION:
- What is ONE WAY this week you can grow as a leader?
ACTIVITY TIME: BAND LEADER
- GAMEPLAY – Have students sit in a circle. One player, the Leader, begins moving around with actions that the rest of the players must mimic. Anything — including wildly flailing his hands or furiously scratching his head — what the leader does, the others must follow. Those players who disobey or lag behind the leader’s motions are out of the game. The last person standing becomes the new Leader.
- MAKE IT MORE FUN – Set the game to music. Instead of outlandish bodily movements, have the leader demonstrate any of a number of dance moves that the followers must imitate.
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an EXAMPLE for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12 NIV)
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