How can our children be better prepared to meet the future challenges of our ever-changing world?

This was a question asked by Archuleta School District 50 Jt. administrators last spring, and it was answered by implementing a program based on a 20-year-old self-help book that is now being used by corporations, schools and individuals around the world.

When Pagosa Springs High School principal David Hamilton first heard about a new program being taught in schools, one based on Stephen R. Covey’s 1989 book, “7 Habits for Highly Effective People,” he was skeptical, but open-minded. Along with Kate Lister and Lisa Hudson, the principals of the elementary and Intermediate schools, he visited A.B. Combs Elementary School in Raleigh, N.C., to see the program in action. The school is mentioned over and over as a case study for the 7 Habits program in Covey’s 2008 follow-up book, “The Leader in Me.” In his new book, Covey details how schools and parents around the world are using the 7 Habits to inspire greatness, one child at a time.

“I was cynical when I went to North Carolina,” Hamilton says, but what he found when he arrived changed his mind. In the kindergarten class he visited, he was invited to ask any questions about the 7 Habits to the 5 and 6 year-olds. Each child he spoke to was able to explain the habits and didn’t back down when quizzed.

The basic idea of the 7 Habits program in schools is the belief that the best way to prepare our children for the future is “to emphasize the value of communication, cooperation, initiative, and unique, individual talent.” After implementing the program, A.B. Combs Elementary showed incredible advances in test grades, significant increases in students’ self-confidence, drops in discipline problems and increases in teacher and administrator job satisfaction.

The three school principals returned home and gave a report on their North Carolina findings to the school board, administrators and teachers.

According to Mark DeVoti, district superintendent, although administrators were already doing professional development every year through the Response To Intervention (RTI) and Professional Learning Communities (PLC) programs, after hearing the report on the success of the 7 Habits, the district made the decision to combine their resources into the Covey leadership program. Every administrator in the district took classes by official Covey Leadership trainers to become trainers themselves. From there, the trainer/administrators conducted two-day trainings for everyone else in the district. “All the staff was trained,” DeVoti emphasizes. “The only people involved with the schools who weren’t trained were the school bus drivers.”

Phil Rizzo is in his ninth year as a first-grade teacher in Pagosa Springs and has the same 7 Habits poster in his classroom that the other schools have, but there are some extra words added to make the habits a little easier for the younger students to understand. Covey’s 7 Habits, with the extra description for elementary students, are:

Habit 1: Be Proactive • You’re in Charge.

Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind • Have a Plan.

Habit 3: Put First Things First • Work First, Then Play.

Habit 4: Think Win-Win • Everyone Can Win.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood • Listen Before You Talk.

Habit 6: Synergize • Together Is Better.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw • Balance Feels Best.

Rather than teach the habits one by one, Rizzo and other elementary school teachers refer to the habits whenever an applicable situation comes up. Having previously completed a course on “The Leader in Me,” Rizzo was familiar with the 7 Habits and welcomed the chance to implement them directly in the classroom.

“The goal is to grow it here a little at a time,” he explained. “As things come up, we grab a habit and plug it in.”

The junior high school had already been using a program called “Habits of Mind,” which is understanding how to behave intelligently when faced with questions you can’t answer. It was a natural transition into the 7 Habits, which teaches students that they are responsible for their own actions and their own future. The students have “Pirate time” each day and one session a week is now used to focus on the 7 Habits. During subsequent weeks, the teachers do supporting activities until they move on to the next habit. The 7 Habits poster shows each habit as part of a tree - the first three habits all deal with individual self, the next three involve relationships with others, and the last habit reminds the individual to “take care of yourself.”

Erika DeVoti, the junior high school counselor, has found that students who learn to prioritize develop habits to help them become successful adults. Each of the seven habits has a list of concepts related to it that can be used by the students, teachers and staff at the schools.

“Make your own weather” is a concept taught under habit number one, reminding students that they are in control of their own self and can be proactive about their lives. Many of the ideas behind the 7 Habits are attributed to Viktor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who is quoted many times in Covey’s book. Frankl’s extensive research involved people’s attitudes and how what an individual says or does influences themselves and those around them.

At the elementary school, one of the offshoots of the new program is the development of a leadership team comprised of second-, third- and fourth-grade students. Building off of Habit 6: Synergize – together is better, the student leaders’ most recent task was acting as hosts and hostesses at the annual Thanksgiving lunch served at the elementary school. Parents are invited to attend the lunch with their child and during a recent leadership meeting student leaders recognized the difficulty in organizing 900 people. This year, parent participants in the lunch event were greeted outside by the student volunteers who conducted a signup, handed out name tags, and directed parents where to go. Once inside, student leaders were easily identified by their bright orange vests and were eager to offer assistance with directions or help grateful parents carry their plates and cups. The halls were filled with pleasant greetings from the student leaders who had been trained by elementary school counselor Linda Stanger. Stanger conducted two leadership trainings on how to be good hosts, which included how to pick up spills, how to wring out a rag, and how to ask politely if someone needs assistance.

Parent comments indicate that the idea was a big success. “This is my first year here at Pagosa Elementary,” said Stanger, “but, wow, I’ve never seen a place with such a positive vibe!”

Although the younger students were quick to embrace the 7 Habits, the teens at the high school were initially not as receptive. The students had not been performing well and the 7 Habits program was a paradigm shift in the way they saw themselves and others. Hamilton explains that many high school students are given a progress report that shows their grades are low, due to missing assignments or poor test scores. They know what the problem is but think that somehow, magically, their grades will improve. They don’t understand that people who excel have done something to create that through practice and effort.

“Once the students start to understand this new paradigm,” Hamilton says, “they begin to realize the Law of the Harvest: you reap what you sow.”

The high school students work on learning the 7 Habits during their Growth Advisory Period, or GAP time, which is one period each day. Because the program is used at every grade level, by next year the habits will be ubiquitous throughout the school and available for “teachable moments.” According to Hamilton, China, India and Japan have adopted the program as a national model, and school administrators realize that Pagosa Springs graduates need to be just as competitive.

“The main reason we adopted the 7 Habits,” he explained, “is that the principles don’t go away. They cross cultures and can be used our entire lives.”

At the Elementary school, after the students have left for the day, Lister’s voice is heard over the intercom, reminding teachers of a meeting in 10 minutes. With a smile in her voice, she closes with, “How’s your weather today?”

Parents with children in the school district can check the monthly newsletter that is sent home for 7 Habits ideas they can discuss with their kids.

For more information about the program and how it can be used, contact the district office or any of the individual school administrators who are trained in the program.