Leadership

At STRIDE, we believe that it is important to not only lead by example, but also to instill leadership skills into our students, so that they may proceed to lead their peers through the difficult years of being teenagers.    
 
Through community service, character education, and other group activities, your student will learn leadership skills, and will practice them throughout their education at STRIDE.

Based on the best-selling book by Sean Covey, STRIDE utilizes The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens foundation that helps students practically apply personal leadership principles to the tough choices they face every day. Utilizing relevant interactive exercises, plus humor and videos, students will laugh while they learn how to gain greater control of their lives and build relationships high in trust.

Learn more about the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens from author Sean Covey.

What Are Students Saying About the Seven Habits?

This taught me to organize, manage my time effectively, and work toward a goal. The workshop leader discussed how teens can accept responsibility for their actions by being proactive. I found this interesting because it shows how it can be easier for teens to walk away from tough situations.
-Maria P.

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What Are Educators Saying About the Seven Habits?

The 7 Habits program has been instrumental in positively impacting the climate at Coppell Middle School East. We hear students who are in the hallways discussing the concepts and using terms like "win-win" and "emotional piggybanks". The realm of impact of the program extends to the students' friends and family, as well as our staff and their families.

-Coppell Middle School East Staff

Second Step Curriculum

The award-winning SECOND STEP violence prevention program integrates social and emotional learning with academics. Kids from preschool through Grade 8 learn and practice vital social skills, such as empathy, emotion management, problem solving, and cooperation. These essential life skills help students in the classroom, on the playground, and at home.

The SECOND STEP program is research-based and approved for funding on many federal agency lists. Educators using the program report reductions in discipline referrals, improvement in their school climate, heightened feelings of inclusiveness and respect, and an increase in the sense of confidence and responsibility in their students.

Learn more about the Second Step Curriculum.

Results of Second Step

In a study of eight elementary schools in a city of 58,000 residents, students showed significant improvements in positive approach/coping, caring/cooperative behavior, suppression of aggression, and consideration of others. Nearly three-quarters of teachers reported that the Second Step program helped their students during the implementation year, and 91.7 percent said that the Second Step program would help their students in the future.

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Researchers investigated the effectiveness of a version of the Second Step curriculum adapted to include an anti-bullying component on a sample of fourth- and fifth-grade students (N = 455). Students who received the Second Step program showed significant gains in knowledge about empathy, anger management, impulse control, and bully-proofing. Report card data also revealed modest gains in prosocial behavior.

Read more studies on the effects of the Second Step Program. 

	The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens 1. Be Proactive 2. Begin with the End in Mind 3. Put First Things First 4. Think Win-Win 5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood 6. Synergize 7. Sharpen the Saw

	Second Step Award Surpassing all others in its class, the Second Step program was the only violence prevention curriculum to be awarded the prestigious "Exemplary" award from the U.S. Department of Education's 2001 Expert Panel on Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools.