School districts interested in implementing Leader in Me will have the chance to see the program in action Friday.

The Vicksburg Warren School District will be hosting a Leader in Me Symposium for the third consecutive year Friday at the Vicksburg Convention Center. More than 145 people from three states are expected to attend, including a delegation of 40 to 50 people coming from Nashville.

The symposium will include speakers from FranklinCovey discussing Leader in Me as well as talks by VWSD students and a performance by a districtwide honor choir.

“The purpose behind it is to show others what Leader in Me is and give them the opportunity to see what we are doing in our schools,” VWSD communications director Christi Kilroy said. “People who will come will be other schools that have just recently implemented, and they want to see what it looks like in a few years, or school districts that are considering Leader in Me. If they have heard of Leader in Me, but never seen it in action and are trying to do their due diligence to see if it is something that will fit in their district.”

VWSD, which was honored with its third lighthouse school by FranklinCovey last week, was selected to host the symposium again because of how well the district has implemented the program. VWSD is one the few places to have implemented Leader in Me at the high school level after Vicksburg and Warren Central high schools and River City Early College were selected to be among a small group of high schools throughout the world to add Leader in Me this year.

“I think it is an incredible opportunity to bring people in and show them something we are doing really well and that is to instill leadership qualities in our students and staff and even reaching out to families,” Kilroy said.

Participants in the symposium will also be able to take tours of Bowmar, Beechwood and Redwood elementary schools as well as the Academy of Innovation.

The keynote speaker for the symposium is Aric Bostick.

There is will also be a pre-conference training offered Thursday on the Speed of Trust.

Friday’s event will start at 8 a.m. with a performance by the choir. Students and FranklinCovey representatives will then speak before participants are taken for school tours. 

After lunch, there will be a question and answer panel with district representatives and then the symposium will close with Bostick’s keynote address.