Each participant is given chance to lead various activities
By Marty Cheek
Morgan Hill’s leaders of tomorrow are being trained today through an innovative program called KidLead that helps young people learn the fundamental skills of leadership.
“KidLead focuses on leaders in the 10 to 13 year old window when their cognitions are developed sufficiently to learn concepts related to leading yet their character is still pliable,” said Roselynn Pucan-Meagor, the KidLead trainer for the Morgan Hill program.
Each KidLead participant gets a chance to be the designated leader in guiding his or her fellow students through activities designed to teach leadership qualities such as communication, teamwork, confidence, optimism, integrity, commitment and responsibility.
“What really makes this work is the unique combination of character and skill training through active learning,” Pucan-Meagor said. Adult volunteer “Koaches” provide coaching to the team leaders as the leaders focus on accomplishing the task in their teams. They provide on-the-spot training, immediate feedback for the team leader, and a debriefing afterward to see what worked and what could be done differently the next time.
The KidLead program is offered at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center through the City of Morgan Hill. This year’s summer camp session recently ended and classes meeting every Tuesday for eight weeks will be available in the Fall and Winter.
Morgan Hill resident Victor Gaxiola, whose child was in this summer’s KidLead program, believes that leadership skill development is important at all ages.
“The KidLead program focuses on providing core leadership values to kids and establishes a strong foundation to build on,” he said. “We need more leaders, and KidLead is a great first step in helping kids understand what it means to be a leader and the skills necessary to move people to a common goal. As a graduate and former board member of Leadership Morgan Hill, I am thrilled that there is a program that my daughter Mika can participate in locally that provides her the leadership and life skills that help increase her awareness of what it means to be a leader and the confidence to pursue her goals.”
Gaxiola recommends KidLead to other families to provide their children the skills they’ll need to be competitive in school and the workplace. The program also provides a foundation that will encourage them to take a more active role in our community and country, he said. KidLead does an outstanding job of providing age appropriate lessons that challenge the kids to solve problems, collaborate, and have fun.
“It’s wonderful to see the participants gain confidence as leaders,” said Pucan-Meagor. “KidLead plants the seeds of leadership development and sets the sails for future thinking and behaving as leaders.”
For more information, please contact Roselynn Pucan-Meagor at [email protected] or call (408) 465-6280.
