Building community while empowering students to become leaders and agents of change is one of the district’s goals, which Ladue Middle School (LMS) is implementing with its eighth-grade student leadership team.  

“Our eighth-grade students recognize they are leaders in the building and know their words and actions are seen as the example of how we treat one another,” emphasizes Scott Lackey, Assistant Principal at LMS. “Often, lessons about relationships, character, and choices we make with peers can be better received if delivered by another student viewed as a leader in the building.” 

That is why LMS introduced Character Strong Ambassadors, a select group of eighth-graders, to present character-strong lessons to sixth-grade students during homeroom.

Fifty-one students signed up to participate and were prepared to deliver these lessons by program sponsors Dr. Hannah Shayer-McLeod, an LMS math teacher, and Greg Schmitz, an LMS English Language Arts teacher. 

“As an eighth grader, I feel it is vital that the sixth graders feel a sense of belonging,” details Elle Sonnenberg, LMS Character Strong Ambassador. “I wish these lessons had been taught to me by older students when I was in sixth grade. I looked up to them so much, and if that lesson were coming from them, I would have undoubtedly had a stronger sense of belonging in my middle school community. That makes a huge difference on so many levels.”

Character-strong lessons are a part of Ladue Middle School’s Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum and are received by all students. The lessons focus on various topics, including building community and belonging, developing character habits, understanding and regulating emotions, stress management, and practicing perspective-taking. The lessons are delivered weekly during homeroom time.

“We are always looking to provide opportunities for students to take ownership of their learning, connect with others in the school community, and develop leadership skills,” Dr. Shayer-McLeod explains. “As Character Strong Ambassadors, our 8th-grade leaders have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of their classmates while learning valuable skills such as teamwork, planning, and public speaking. I hope that being a Character Strong Ambassador makes it more likely that students will continue to pursue leadership roles.”

The sixth-grade homeroom teachers were pleasantly surprised by the engagement of both student groups following the first couple of lessons. Dr. Shayer-McLeod and Mr. Schmitz have plans to incorporate additional engaging strategies with the students to help them grow as leaders and teachers!