Students in Hamilton Heights and Anderson Community Schools are getting a different kind of lesson, learning about leadership, compassion and self-control through a community mentoring program.
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The Teach One to Lead One program serves hundreds of kids. Leaders say that right now, they are looking for even more schools to host their programming.
In Hamilton Heights classrooms, the conversations aren't about math equations or essays. Mentors from Teach One to Lead One are asking eighth graders about their lives and challenging them to think about the kind of person they want to become.
"With the self-control I've learned and the respect, it helps me better communicate," Mackenzie Moe said.
"I would describe it as a way to relate to other people and know that they're going through the same situations that you are," Moe said.
The community mentoring program offers a leadership-based curriculum guided by 10 universal principles, including honor, humility, excellence, enthusiasm, self-control, integrity, teamwork, respect, compassion and courage.
"We're connecting, we're like talking to each other," Jackson Getchell said.
Josh Tandy is the program expansion manager for Teach One to Lead One. He is working to get mentors into even more schools and community centers.
"We teach universal principles because we believe that wherever they find themselves in life, things like respect and integrity and self-control will serve them well," Tandy said.
Tandy says the curriculum helps improve attendance, attitude and academics among the students they serve. The lessons these students are learning are helping both inside and outside of the classroom.
"I think this really helps people like step out and actually talk to each other, and it also makes people know that they're seen," Moe said.
"We also talked about like responsibility and like things we could do at home that could be like we could do better in our lives, like good habits and bad habits," Getchell said.
As Teach One to Lead One looks to expand beyond the seven schools they are currently in, they need more volunteers. They are recruiting people from churches, businesses and community groups who have a passion for helping kids.
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