Leadership Academy Focuses on Skill Development and Real World Opportunities to Lead

Reprinted from Traditions, Spring 2017-2018
July 27, 2017

Leadership Academy is a curriculum developed at Cretin-Derham Hall to explicitly teach select students the skills associated with being good leaders. Through an innovative mix of instruction and hand-on experiences, this distinctive program helps students reach their leadership potential. Cretin-Derham Hall has developed this program to teach leadership – in both philosophy and ideology, but just as importantly, in practical, real-world applications.

“Leadership is one of our CDH values,” explained Amy Bellus, Leadership Academy Director. “We have always given students tremendous opportunities to be leaders, but we realized that we never explicitly taught students the skills necessary to be effective leaders.”

This disconnect was a call to action for faculty and staff who came together in 2012 to develop this curriculum. Now in its fourth year of implementation, Leadership Academy has grown and developed into a unique program of distinction. “We see an impressive level of change in how our student leaders lead,” noted Bellus. “They use these skills they have been taught in the leadership opportunities they take on, and they are actively and thoughtfully leading in their own areas of passion.”

Leadership Academy, based on our Catholic Social Teachings, digs deep into six focus units, including: Leadership Styles, Organization, Intrapersonal Skills, Interpersonal Skills, Communication and Professional Skills/Principles and Standards.

The program utilizes a diverse group of more than 20 presenters from within the staff, including teachers and administrators. Students currently sign up for Leadership Academy as juniors if interested and must meet all the requirements to stay in the program. Students must complete all pre-work and assignments that are due prior to meetings. In the past, the Leadership Academy has met once a week during lunch and homeroom, however, this year, an intensive training will be held in August for students entering junior year. Our goal is to integrate this curriculum into an academic course in which all students will be able to participate.

Students who complete the program during their junior year have the option of completing a project they design during their senior year. Upon completion, senior project leaders then present their project to peers and Leadership Academy adult leaders allowing for reflective assessment of what went right and wrong. With the successful completion of both the academy program and a leadership project, Leadership Academy is noted on student transcripts.

More than 100 students were involved in Leadership Academy this year. There were 48 seniors who explored a project of their choosing, ranging from establishing a current affairs club called “Tomorrow’s Issues Today,” hosting a CDH Whiffle Ball Tournament for Relay for Life, service at local Dorothy Day, or in Eucharistic Ministry.

With our CDH values as a foundation, CDH is committed to teaching leadership in a way that goes beyond giving it lip service or leaving student to flounder without the support or knowledge to develop actual skills as leaders.

No other high school has a program like Leadership Academy. “This program is important because it challenges our students to be more intentional in every aspect of their leadership,” remarked Bellus. “The students make sure their leadership approach is active and represents their own moral code. They discover the challenges of being a strong, ethical leader, especially when hard decisions must be made, such as when there are tensions between two good choices.”

The practical application of these skills in the projects selected by Leadership Academy participants are impressive and have far-reaching community impact. Bellus points to the intrinsic value in the student real-world experience, “Our student leaders realize good leadership is not easy, but so critical to their personal and project success.”

Incoming junior students who are interested in Leadership Academy for 2017/2018 are encouraged to contact Amy Bellus at abellus@c-dh.org. The summer training begins in August.

This article and more are featured in the Spring 2017-2018 issue of the CDH Magazine, Traditions.

To learn more about two of the Leadership Academy projects, read STEM Camp at Local School Makes Science Fun for Elementary Kids and JROTC Rifle Team Captain Develops Sustainable Plan for Team Leadership.