This past Friday, October 29th was a half-day for all Hamilton County students.

While most schools would have attempted to shorten their regular schedules, the faculty at Signal Mountain Middle/High School, along with a prominent senior class leader, decided it would be better to spend the day studying and seminaring on a less than familiar topic: leadership. The morning began with each student, both middle and high school, reporting to their advisory class. Afterwards, each class was led into the gym, starting with the sixth grade. As the seniors entered, the entire student body erupted in applause, strengthening the days theme of leaders and respect towards them. After several words from IB coordinator Janet Brodsky and principal Dr. Tom McCullough, Bradley Connor, a student council member, took hold of the microphone. He explained that, with the help of the faculty, he had arranged all of the activities for the day as part of his required senior project. I wanted to make a difference in our school, not in a way where a fellow student, teacher, or administrator would receive something, but in a way where each member associated with the school would change their roles for themselves and for the future members of the school. Once the senior stepped down, he handed off the microphone to the guest speaker for the day, a new face at Signal Mountain. Jason McKinney was hired last month as the new assistant principal for the school, and this was his first time speaking in front of the entire student body. He talked how he was a college athlete, his days as the head track coach at the University of Tennessee at Martin, and how he has learned to apply leadership skills towards everyday life. Once Mr. McKinney finished speaking, the students returned to their advisory rooms to discuss leadership, and whether they felt they were leaders, contributors, participants, or detractors. Each seminar group was assigned a student to lead them through the discussion, with questions ranging from Are you at times a detractor? to Does this school need more leaders? In this way, students were encouraged to think of ways in which they could improve their schools environment and limit the activity of detractors. Mrs. McCormacks senior advisory thought it would be beneficial to have each junior or senior pair up with a younger freshman or sophomore, respectively. That way, they could communicate with each other if they happen to be going though a rough class or situation. Mr. Lancasters sophomore advisory felt that more student leaders were needed in the classroom, where detractors are often difficult to stand up to. If Signal Mountain students can follow through on their ideas and put them into action, Signal Mountain Middle/High School will not only be one of the best schools academically, but also morally and ethically. As sophomore leader Ian Dingle said near the end of the day, Tradition starts with us, and that is certainly turning out to be true.