EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. – Cornerstone Elementary’s Student Leadership Council, now in its second year, has helped students connect to practical service projects. The group is made up of third through fifth graders, and they assist with school activities throughout the year and provide a structured way for students to practice responsibility.
Emily Rose, a fifth-grade teacher in her second year at Cornerstone and her sixth year in the profession, helps lead the program. Rose has lived in Excelsior Springs for nearly a decade and said the leadership group was created to give students a direct role in building community within the school.
“Our students thrive when they are given meaningful responsibilities,” Cornerstone Elementary’s Principal Jessica Broadbent shared. “It allows them to share their voices and work together toward something that benefits the building and the community.”
The effort was also designed with preparedness in mind. Rose said the leadership team hoped to remain proactive in case a significant community need arose during the school year.
When the drive concluded, donations were delivered to the Good Samaritan Center for distribution. The drive produced around 2,500 non-perishable food items. A PTO-sponsored incentive awarded a classroom prize to each grade level’s highest contributing class. The winning classes were:
- Kindergarten: Linda Haskell-Sherman
- First grade: Sydney Roof
- Second grade: Paige Colgan
- Third grade: Amy Ranes
- Fourth grade: Samantha Squires
- Fifth grade: Jessi Genteman
Rose said the leadership students were most excited sorting and counting the donations, and it was a favorite moment of her own. Staff members noted the visible sense of accomplishment among students as the totals and pile of food grew.
“We kept it local and kept it very simple,” Rose said. “The response was strong. Students did an excellent job encouraging one another.”
With 23 classrooms participating in the food drive, the project was a schoolwide exercise in teamwork. Rose said both students and staff responded positively to the shared effort, and the council will continue to think of creative ways for students to engage with the community they live in.
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