The objective of this program is to help students recognize and develop leadership skills. Twice a month, the program participants will meet in the auditorium during their lunch period. Each session will generally be built around a leadership theme and clips or scenes from great movies will be shown to support the theme. The mission of the program is to make recognizable, dramatic and positive changes in the way the young women of IWA lead their lives. The leadership attributes that are included in the program are:
• Vision
• Accountability
• Competency
• Confidence
• Courage
• Honesty and Fairness
• Humility
How to Join:
The Popcorn Leadership Program is open to all students at IWA. All that is required is a permission slip be completed and turned in to Mr. Kafoglis. Permission slips are available here or in the front office on the wall rack.
Notes from Previous Meetings:
May 6: The final popcorn leadership club meeting of the year featured "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. Dr. Pausch was an amazing leader and perhaps could be considered a reluctant leader. The manner in which he lived his life, managed his priorities, and loved his family is well documented in this video. Dr. Pausch became an internet sensation when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and gave his now famous last lecture at Carnegie Mellon University. His message has served to inspire millions. It was a good way to end a great first club year.
April 22: In support of Earth Week, parts of the movie, Over the Hedge was shown. This animated Pixar film has conflicting visions of a leader. One character is portrayed as the fast talking adventurous con man who influences the others with promised of abundance and excitement. In contrast, another leader is the slower paced sage conservative protective type who ensures the safety of the family. The movie additionally makes interesting points about environment gluttony and the potential for us to be wasteful consumers.
March 10: Sports is full of great moments in leadership. Team play and overall emotion and physicality can make sport leadership look different but at its core, the same attributes of leadership are revealed. This week we show eight diverse clips that include real-life stories of Shane Battier and Tim Tebow, some Hollywood moments from Remember the Titans, Rocky and Facing the Giants. Some inspirational clips introduce us to a one-armed basketball player and a great moment in sportsmanship history on the womens' softball field.
February 22-26: Proclaimed as Gandhi week, the club watched the entire movie, all thee hours over a five-day span. Gandhi, like Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, is one of the greatest leaders of modern times. With great humility and courage, and without holding public office or title, Gandhi rallies an entire country to non-violently retake their country from the British. This is one of the most powerful examples of leadership in action ever produced for the big screen.
February 10: The oldies are sometimes the best. One of the best leadership movies of all time is Twelve O'Clock High starring Gregory Peck as General Frank Savage. This movie is used by corporations in their leadership development programs. General Savage demonstrates how leaders must "get in the boat" with their teams in order to win their respect. Savage takes over a demoralized bomber squadron and turns them around to become a strategic asset as the Americans battle to destabilize German industry.
January 28: Is there leadership lesson in the movie, School of Rock? Believe it or not, even the impassioned sweaty antics of Jack Black as Mr. Schneebly show the power of having a strong vision (win the battle of the bands), passion (life is all about rock and roll), and the ability to find the best in each person. Although Schneebly has some major personality "flaws," lets just say he has leadership potential. As he matures we expect great things.
January 14 and 15: We started the year off with two days of the classic Robin William's movie, Dead Poet's Society. The movie is a great example of charismatic leadership and bringing out the best in human spirit and abilities. However, the lead character, teacher Mr. John Keating, is an imperfect leader. While he succeeds in inspiring his students to think for themselves, he fails to bridge the gap between his teaching approach and beliefs and those of the traditional school that employs him. His inability to manage expectations above, leads to his eventual dismissal. This is another example of how hard leadership can be.it is not enough to have vision and inspire others, but a leader must also understand and manage their environment.
December 3: This meeting showed a key clip from Bend It Like Beckham to illustrate how to overcome the conflicts of generations and cultures. The movie tells the story about two young women (Jess and Jules) who live on the outskirts of London and are very passionate about soccer. Both girls face barriers from their parents. Jess comes from a traditional Indian family who wants her to follow their traditions and not play sports. Jules' mother is not supportive and wants her to grow to be a proper English lady. In the end, Jess and Jules come to appreciate their parent's perspective but also convince their parents of the sincerity of their passion to soccer. Leaders must have passion in order to excel and influence others. Without passion, their efforts are weakened and depth of their goals is never observed.
November 25: This week's meeting did not center on a movie clip, but rather a monologue from a teen life coach, Jeff Yalden. Jeff, a New Yorker and a bit rough around the edges, confronts teens with a strong message relating to having a well defined plan to support their goals. Without a plan, he bluntly says that their dreams are "stupid." He continues to encourage hard work, attention to detail, and passion to separate a teen from all the other teens who have similar goals and dreams.
November 11: The theme for the meeting was "A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle" (Benjamin Franklin). The movie, Mean Girls, was used to showcase what can occur when there is a leadership vacuum. We see a group of girls in the movie who lack confidence and self esteem; they resort to documenting cruel put downs, raising it to the level of sport. By movies end, the destruction is complete and the girls come clean and try to make repairs in relationships and outlook. While the examples in the movie are hyperbolic, it is clear that there is a strong sense of "I can relate to that" when watching this movie. In contrast to the girls in the movie, leaders live authentically (they behave with honesty and grace no matter who is around), admit when they are wrong and work to correct mistakes, and never make excuses. The action for the meeting was to live one full day without making excuses. At the end of the day make a list of times that it was tempting to make an excuse.
October 29: The theme for the meeting was "Setting Priorities in Your Life." Clips from the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, (this clip is rated PG-13 - some offensive language exists) starring Will Smith were shown to illustrate the struggle inherent in managing life's priorities. In the movie, Chris Gardner is trying to balance his desire to improve his lot in life professionally with his obligations as a parent and a husband. At times he succeeds but at other times he fails to strike the correct balance. The movie shows that living your life according to your personal vision, goal, and priorities requires sacrifice. Leaders are individuals that are willing to make those sacrifices as a means toward an end. Those who have trouble living their day-to-day lives according to a known set of priorities tend to give in to indulgence and rarely attain their goals. The action assignment for the meeting was to write down and rank the priorities in your life consistent with your previously defined vision.
October 15: The theme for the meeting was "Who are the Leaders in Your Life?" The movie 12 Angry Men was highlighted as a great example of leadership in action. Henry Fonda's performance as Juror #8 attempts to turn an 11-1 guilty verdict vote into a process which is fair and free of prejudice. His approach to deliberations is inspiring and he becomes the type of person from which we all can learn. He is the single juror who has the courage and skill to lead the deliberative process to a fair conclusion. We all have Henry Fonda type leaders in our life and by observing them, we can learn how to lead our own lives and eventually those of others. The action assignment for the meeting was to write down the names of those in your life who can be leadership mentors and to begin the process of observing their leadership skills and learning from them. These names should be posted next to the vision from the October 1 meeting.
October 1: The theme for the meeting was "How can you lead your life if you don't know where you are going?" The movie The Astronaut Farmer was highlighted to emphasize the power of having a crystal clear vision of what you want to do in life and a plan to achieve that vision. In the movie, Charlie Farmer had been a NASA astronaut, but failed to be part of a space flight. In retirement, he dedicates his life and, with the support of his family, sets out to build and launch a rocket with himself on board. His vision is obvious, his plan is detailed, but he constantly overcomes obstacles and brick walls along the way. In the end, he succeeds and is a testament to the power of vision, planning and perseverance. The action assignment for the meeting was to write down your vision for life on an index card and post it on your bathroom mirror so you are reminded daily.
September 17: Program introduced with the help of Gregory Peck in a rugged scene from 12 O'clock High and Denzel Washington's "my way or the highway" opening from Remember the Titans. Leaders are called to action and must sacrifice in order to achieve their vision. The action assigned was for each student to do one nice thing for someone on campus who they did not know.
Special Announcement: Anyone who would like to get involved in the production of the movie clips for the Popcorn Leadership Program or has interest in taking on a "leadership" role should contact Mr. Kafoglis.
