Bibb County School District and Business Education Partnership Seek to Raise $2.1 Million in Funding
Macon, Ga. — At a community breakfast held at Sonny Carter Elementary School, where Bibb County school children demonstrated the “Seven Habits” based on Steven Covey’s bestselling The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the Business Education Partnership and Bibb County School District announced an ambitious fundraising campaign that will implement The Leader in Me program in every Bibb County elementary and middle school.
Blake Sullivan, co-chair of the Business Education Partnership, said it will take $2.1 million to implement The Leader in Me across the district and create a sustainable program model for students, teachers and school administrators. “We can provide the best schools with world-class technology and caring and dedicated teachers, but if our children don’t come to school prepared and willing to learn, then the whole education system fails,” he said.
According to The Leader in Me website, the program is based on best-in- class content and concepts practiced by education thought-leaders. Guided by Steven Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Leader in Me is a whole-child, paradigm-shifting process that teaches enduring values and principles that students can use throughout their lives – in and outside the classroom – preparing them for post-graduate education and beyond.
During the 2015-2016 school year, the Business Education Partnership raised funds to implement the process in two elementary schools, Sonny Carter and Burdell-Hunt Magnet. After seeing the results – a positive impact on not only the students, but also teachers and parents – the partnership raised funds to help implement the program in two more schools, Hartley and Bernd Elementary Schools, this year.
“I am very excited about the progress that is being made in implementing The Leader in Me,” said Superintendent Dr. Curtis L. Jones, Jr. “We’ve seen the two schools that began the process last year continue to grow and develop, and the two schools that started this year are meeting their milestones and doing well. I’m very thankful to the community for working with us and supporting us so we may be able to expand the program to more schools beginning next year.”
The newly launched Bibb County campaign, “We Need the Leader in Me,” is now accepting donations and community support through its website MacontheLeaderinMe.com, which will include regular updates on its progress.
About the Bibb County School District:
The Bibb County School District is an urban school district located in Macon-Bibb County, Georgia, educating approximately 25,000 students each year. The Bibb County School District’s vision is that each student demonstrates strength of character and is college or career ready, and its mission is to develop a highly trained staff and an engaged community dedicated to educating each student for a 21st century global society. www.bcsdk12.net
About OneMacon:
OneMacon is an alliance of more than 40 private, public and nonprofit organizations making a positive economic impact on the region using a community and economic strategy based on three pillars: schools, jobs and places. This collaborative initiative supports and enhances the efforts of Macon-Bibb organizations and community members, united in creating an energetic and opportune region where workforce thrives, sense of places is keen and education excels opportunity. Read more at onemacon.org.
About the Business Education Partnership:
In response to strategic recommendation 1.1 to be pursued by the OneMacon Implementation Committee, the Macon-Bibb Chamber of Commerce and the business community formed a collaborative partnership, the Business Education Partnership (BEP) with the Bibb County School District. One of the first successes this partnership implemented was The Leader in Me, where in 2015-2016, the community provided funds to implement the process in two schools. After seeing the results – a positive impact on not only the students, but also with the teachers and parents – the partnership implemented two more schools in 2016-2017.