Four Seasons Elementary School fifth-grader Jewel Golston wants to be president when she grows up, and already she's putting in time learning leadership skills for the job.
Jewel joined about 400 Anne Arundel fourth- and fifth-graders in the public school system's second annual Elementary School Leadership Conference on Thursday at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.
County high school students from its student government association helped lead workshops at the conference, which Anne Arundel school officials say is the only one of its kind in the state for elementary school students. Each elementary school selected students to attend the conference.
"It's a good experience, and it's going to be very helpful in life," said Jewel. "It's going to teach me how to be a good leader." She said she will share what she learned from the conference with fellow students at Four Seasons Elementary in Gambrills who did not attend.
School officials say the conference is geared toward fostering leadership skills in three areas: being focused in and out of the classroom, monitoring or adjusting goals, and accepting and processing feedback. The students also identified needs at their respective schools and devised ways to address the needs.
"For many years in our county we've had a very active secondary student leadership program," said Heather Jenkins, schools administrator of student leadership development. "We really just saw a need to extend the program to our elementary school students."
Jenkins said that the county has formed a leadership council of two representatives from every elementary school in the county. The students meet twice a year to discuss issues in the county's schools. "The whole focus of our conference is navigating the course of leadership," she said.
Students attended team-games workshops at the conference, including one that helps them learn how to work as a group. Another workshop taught reflective listening, demonstrating how to gain feedback and listen to feedback in a group or one-on-one setting.
Then there was a workshop where students learned about time management by placing seaside offerings in a jar — first rocks, then pebbles, then sand.
"It talks about time management and how we all have the same jar, 24 hours in a day," said Lori Stuart, counselor at Four Seasons Elementary. "How we fill our jar is different. The big rocks are the things we have to do — eating, sleeping, school, work.
"Then there are pebbles, things that are somewhat important to you, but if they don't happen, the world will still go on. And the sand is things you enjoy but don't have to get done."
Stuart said that it's important for the students to see others looking to become leaders and aiming to be role models. She added that the lessons will need to be reinforced once the students return to their schools.
"The students I brought are from my student council," she said. "We will have a meeting after this and we will check in to see what they got from it and what I can fill in."