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Rib Mountain principal outlines student leadership push, cites strong midyear survey results
Summary
Rib Mountain Elementary principal Rachel Jean told the district committee the school’s three-year goals center on literacy, student empowerment and stakeholder communication; she highlighted student-led teams and a "genius hour" pilot and said 86%–87% of students reported feeling involved and valued in midyear surveys.
Rachel Jean, principal at Rib Mountain Elementary School, told the Wausau School District Education Operations Committee on Jan. 27 that the building is focusing this year on three goals: increasing literacy growth, boosting student empowerment and leadership, and improving intentional communication with stakeholders.
"We really want students to leave rib seeing themselves as leaders and seeing themselves as making a difference in the community that they're in," Jean said, summarizing the school motto for the year: "it's your life, so lead it." She described schoolwide leadership structures that assign responsibilities by grade (for example, kindergarteners tidy balls after recess; first-graders manage lunch baskets) and a new "lead time" program that places fourth- and fifth-graders on leadership teams.
Teachers at Rib Mountain also continued a second-year "genius hour" program that invites staff, family members, community volunteers and high-school students from Wausau West to lead short modules — the program has included offerings such as photography, foreign language and music. "We have high school students who come down from Wausau West, and they share their time and talent with us," Jean said.
Jean presented midyear quantitative results and classroom vignettes as evidence of impact: "86% of students at our school responded favorably to the statement, 'Students at this school get to help plan or lead school events and activities,'" and "87% of the students on that survey also responded favorably to the statement, 'I feel like a valuable part of the school.'" She followed the presentation with brief remarks from four student leaders who described mentoring younger students, restocking the school market, running the Mustang News show and organizing appreciation activities.
School board members praised the presentation and noted the value of student leadership for school culture. The Rib Mountain delegation thanked the board for the invitation and closure of the item returned the meeting to regular business.
The committee did not take formal action on the presentation; it was received as an informational update.
