Bennett’s Mill Boys are on the “RISE” with a New Leadership Program

What started out as a small book club, has now turned into an uplifting group of young men with endless opportunities to make positive impacts in the classroom, community, and beyond. 
 
RISE, a new pilot program at Bennett’s Mill Middle, is a boys’ leadership group where students will be given several opportunities to develop their leadership skills.
 
Cora Davis, a sixth-grade teacher at Bennett’s Mill Middle, started a book club with a few students who were having challenges in the classroom with hopes to create a safe environment where they respected themselves and others.
 
After many trials and triumphs, she noticed a major change in these students’ behavior; they were now engaged, responsible, ready to learn, and excited about their futures.
 
Now, Davis wants to take this same concept and open it to more students.
 
The RISE program will partner with New Way, an organization that focuses on conflict reconciliation, to lead boys in activities that help them identify their core values.
 
Throughout the year, RISE members will go through the New Way training program where students will participate in various activities that involve self-reflection, collaboration, and thought-provoking discussions.
 
Members will also serve in a variety of community service projects, on and off campus, such as assisting the school faculty and staff, as well as visiting a local nursing home, reading to students at Cleveland Elementary, and volunteering at soup kitchens.
 
Additionally, RISE members will participate in learning opportunities outside of the classroom through a variety of field trips.
 
This new program currently has 10 members and was offered to seventh grade boys for the 2019-2020 school year, but Davis hopes to open this program to all middle school girls and boys in the future.
 
Davis says, “RISE will empower and engage students at Bennett’s Mill. Students in the program will discover their values and understand the positive impact they have at school and in their communities. Through service projects, RISE members will feel a sense of ownership for their school and their communities.”