At Lebanon Middle School, a group of students has taken it upon themselves to help improve school culture one student-led project at a time. The group is known as the SHIELD team, and their goal is to Support, Help, Include, Empower, Lead, and Defend as student leaders through initiatives with the help of LMS school counselor Erin Pittman.
Earlier this semester, the students organized a Peer Shout-Out Campaign where LMS students were asked to nominate their peers to be recognized for positive behavior that aligned with the group’s values. SHIELD team members visited classes first to explain the project, and later to ask for nominations.
After collecting around 30 nominations, the SHIELD team called the nominated students to the office over the school’s intercom to present them with certificates and Knight Bucks, the LMS currency that can be used in the school’s spirit shop.
“It was great. The kids were very happy to get the recognition,” Pittman said. “And I was very surprised at how detailed [the nominations] were. There were a lot that nominated their friends for being supportive with things happening outside of school.”
Members of the SHIELD team group saw their first project as a huge success.
“It went really well. A lot of people were happy they got a shoutout,” 6th-grader Lilith said. “Some of them were surprised, they weren’t expecting it at all.”
In fact, the only issue may have been that some of the nominated students were thrown off by being called to the office.
“Some of them seemed a little scared,” 8th-grader Madison said with a laugh. “They didn’t really know why they were being called out of class.”
The Peer Shout-Outs was the first of what the group plans to be regular projects. The club meets after school on Thursdays, and Pittman shares a sign-up sheet with students for those who are interested in joining. So far there have been 6-7 students who regularly attend, although more have shown interest but haven’t been able to attend meetings.
In fact, Pittman said that she’s had students stop her in the hallway to ask about joining following the success of the Peer Shout-Out Campaign.
While the projects they undertake are intended to improve the school’s culture for all students, Pittman also sees the value in giving the SHIELD team members the chance to serve as student leaders.
“The kids have been very excited about it,” Pittman said. “Some of the kids that are participating, they’ve never been involved in things that gave them a leadership role. So they’ve loved visiting classes and talking to peers. I feel like this is going to help them later by getting out of their comfort zones.”
One SHIELD team member is new to both LMS and Kentucky, having moved here from out of state prior to the start of the school year.
“For her to get involved, that was a big step,” Pittman said. “Now, based on the way she interacts, you would think she’s known everyone in the school for her whole life.”
The group is still brainstorming ideas for future projects, which might include food or clothes drives, a kindness campaign, or an anti-bullying project, and the members will eventually get more specific roles such as event planners, designers, or ambassadors. But most importantly for Pittman, it’s a way for students to build their own leadership capacity while helping others.
“I’ve loved being able to give these kids the opportunity to be leaders,” she said. “It’s very interesting and makes me happy to see that they have all of these ideas about helping the school. I’m really excited to see what they come up with next.”
