Riversprings Middle School students in the sixth grade on both the Eagles and Manatee teams recently received Leadership training from Lt. Gatchell of the National Guard Drug Demand Reduction-Counterdrug Division. Students learned a way to say "No" to drugs and unwise decisions encouraged by friends, with the use of acronyms.  Using the acronym LDRship they were encouraged to measure what is being asked of them against what is good leadership:  L stands for loyalty, D is for duty, R for respect, S for selfless service, H for honor, I for integrity, and P for personal courage.  Honor is really indicative of all the attributes of a good leader.  With the words in mind and given specific situations, students were taught via games to measure given circumstances against the good characteristics of what constitutes a good leader.  If the situation in which they found themselves was counter to any of these attributes, the students were given a way to stand firm in their belief system and have a reason for walking away.

Mrs. Weber and Mrs. Adams both participated in the activties that tested students abilities to problem solve.  They did team building activities that also used problem solving and promoted good leadership qualities.  In one of the activities,  students worked to save their medic, because without him/her being alive the company would not be able to be healed and ultimately everyone would suffer.  The opponents fired dodge balls at the teams to try to incapacitate the other team. In another activity, students were encouraged to communicate and thereby reach the team goal.  Students realized the importance of each individual and the team as a whole.  On another day, they worked as partners and problem solved together, learning the importance of pinpointing the problem in order to solve it by using ropes.

The culminating activity involved a rock climbing wall.  In this activity, students learned to focus on each problem, one at a time, while looking ahead as much as possible.  They learned to scope the problem and adjust.  They also learned to trust.  Overall the program was a great success as students were able to tie what they learned in these activities to the lessons they were learning in their classes.

Mrs. Adams classes had been learning about WWII and the Holocaust, the focus being how as humans we need to strive for the betterment of each other.  Opening the study was a poem called "First They Came" by a Presbyterian Minister named Martin.  In the poem he states, "First they came for the Socialists, then the Communists, then the Jews and I said nothing because I was none of those, but then they came for me and there was no one left to speak up for me."  Responsiblilty for each other and oneself was the ultimate goal in the readings and activities in which the students participated.  To make the lesson real and applicable to them and the problems they deal with each day, the National Guard was called in to help.  Choices lead to more choices and those choices ultimately determine the person you will be.  The students learned it all boils down to the simple concept of choices.

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