Sept: Week 1--Leadership Academy

SECTION I.

Our theme this year is the Title of Liberty, raised by the hero-captain of the Book of Mormon, Moroni himself.  We, too are engaged in this battle that Moroni fought…a battle fought in memory of our God, our religion, and our families.  It is real.  It is here.

As we start off this year as we prepare ourselves for this battle between good and evil, the first place we should look is heaven-ward.  God has a plan for us, a mission in store that is unique to us, our talents and abilities…a mission that will help defeat the evil that is around us and bring us joy unspeakable!

To do that takes HUMILITY, our principle for the month.

1 Memorize this scripture of the month:  Psalms 22:4—By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honour and life.

Really?  Try this “mathematical equation” out: is it true?    HUMILITY + OBEDIENCE = POWER!

Captain Moroni believed it!

2 Read Alma 46:13: …he [Moroni] bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren…

3. Ask yourself:

--“Why would a military leader, Captain Moroni, pray mightily to God before gathering people to his cause,…before even fighting?”

--“How could being humble help his cause?  What is your ‘cause’? 

Write down your “cause” in this life—either your cause for right now or for the future—in your reflection book or journal.

--“Can being humble help you in your cause?”

Let’s start by figuring out what is humility?

4. Do a Word study on the word “Humility

5. Watch: http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3701964025001&cid=HPTH073114368

6. Now read ch. 8 in “Standing for Something” about gratitude and do one or more of the following and bring them to class.

-Write a paragraph answering the question: What does gratitude have to do with humility?  -Listen to Pres. Uchtdorf’s recent talk about  gratitude: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/grateful-in-any-circumstances?lang=eng#listen=audio  and write at least 3 things that gratitude can do for you.

-Sit down and write a list of 100 things you are grateful for

-Write down your favorite quotes or stories from  the chapter or what you learned about gratitude.

SECTION II. 

 Now let’s look at LEADERSHIP SKILLS and the role humility plays in being a good leader: What does God want from His leaders?

7. Review the chapter “Put First Things First” in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens and pray about how you can apply something to help in your studies.

8. Look at how humility played a part in building our nation by reading “What Would the Founding Fathers Think?” and do one or more of the following:

-teach a friend about what you read from the book…help them understand at least three points made in the book.

-make a collection of your favorite quotes from the book and share it with us

-look for articles in the news or newspaper that support or disprove points in this book

-make your own comic strip about one of the problems in today’s society

9. PROJECT TIME--Let’s create some intelligence!

Come up with a project for this week to apply in some way something from above.  You can also come up with a humility project for the month and work on it weekly, reporting back to us on your progress so we can cheer you on!  Please contact me or any other mentor if you want to brainstorm ideas for a meaningful personal project together!

Ideas:

-Seek to be more grateful and write down things you are grateful for in your journal every night for a week, paying particular attention to God’s hand in your life.

-Think about putting first things first, pray to know God’s will for you in your education, then come up with a plan to put that will into action!  Work at it for the week or month, prayerfully reviewing and evaluating what changes need to made or what areas you need to work on.

-Make a commitment to go to a certain number of classes for Vanguard and then prayerfully and humbly ask God (and your mentors, if you’d like) to help you find a way to do that.

-Start planning out or working on your Imaginative Arts creation project for Master class.

April Week 1: Leadership Academy inspirement ideas

IDEAS FOR GAINING UNDERSTANDING:

-Find a story that was or wasn't mentioned about people in the scriptures that sought to come unto Christ.  Read it, research it, and use some way to present or teach it to others.

-Look in the Book of Virtues and share online or come with an example of a hero or person in history that showed initiative like the following:

http://www.values.com/inspirational-sayings-billboards/47-Vision

http://www.values.com/inspirational-sayings-billboards/2-Ambition

-climb up a tree and really try to see things around you for a while.  Think about your dreams, your goals, people you admire and why you want to be near them.  Think of what God wants you to do and become.  Take your journal with you or record your thoughts afterward and then share them with someone.

-Think about Charlie and his experiences as the beginning of the book.  Do a T-chart comparison of his life and your life.

IDEAS FOR CREATING INTELLIGENCE:

-Find someway to remind yourself to "focus your eyes on Jesus" every day: like put up by your bed a quote, a scripture, a picture, etc. that you will see every day. Do this for at least 2 days and report to someone or record what you did!

-Say a prayer, asking what Zacchaeus did, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?" (Matt. 19:16) Ask about what God sees for you to do in the future, what He sees for you to do tomorrow.  Take time to really listen to and write down the answers that come.   Make a plan for one thing!  Show initiative!

-Take something you learned about and do a Family Home Evening about it!

 -Using the scriptures make a list of qualities of Jesus.  Make a list of your own.  Circle the ones that are the same (there will be many) and pick one of His that you don't have that you would like to be and plan a way to do that...to become "just like Jesus"!

--Ponder on what you have learned in the readings about initiative.  Pray about how you can show more initiative in your life in one of the projects you have always wanted to do, write down your promptings in your journal or tell a parent, and then write down a plan of action.  Do it for three days. (You will need to start this three days before you get to Vanguard...Sunday is a great day for this!)

March Week 1: Leadership Academy

CORE CLASS: Week 1-Leadership

Leadership week focus: What is integrity?

KNOW: Create Knowledge by doing ALL of the following:

1) Plan out your week and either write it down in your planner or plan it out with your parent/running partner.

 2) Do a Word Study: “INTEGRITY” and bring it to share

3) Read the opening article, scripture for the month, and core quote at least one time. 

4) Read Max Lucado: Ch 8 “Nothing but the truth” and bring your favorite quote or story from it

5) Read chapters 1-7 of “Star Girl”: bring at least 1 example about how Star Girl showed integrity to who she was.

6) Watch, listen to, or read the following talk and do a graphic summary about how one of the people quoted in it showed integrity: http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1990/04/personal-integrity?lang=eng

7) Watch the following 1 min. 15 sec video about integrity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UUT6nWbyik  Share it with someone and tell them what you liked about it, or write down your favorite line from it in your journal or reflection book.

UNDERSTANDING: Choose one or more of the following to take your knowledge to understanding:

·         -Do a word study on another word that stood out to you in your studies this week

·        - Make a video or skit, draw a picture, or write a story or poem about someone showing integrity in their lives.  It could be about the people mentioned in any of the readings above, someone in your own life, or a make-believe situation.  For instance, you could do a “poem” where you spell out “I-N-T-E-G-R-I-T-Y” on the side of a paper, and fill in sentences or words from each letter that help describe what you have learned this week.

·        - Learn a song about integrity and perform it for us, your family, or friends.

·        - Look around you for someone in your life that shows the kind of integrity to themselves that Star Girl does.  Interview them and ask them how they do it!

INTELLIGENCE:  Take your understanding to intelligence by doing one or more of the following:

·         Review the questions on page 101 of “Just Like Jesus” and answer them prayerfully and truthfully, recording your answers in your journal.

·         For one whole day, speak nothing but the truth, including exaggerations.  Record how it went in your journal or tell a parent or some other trusted person.

·         Teach a Family Home Evening on Integrity.  Tell us how it went!

February Week 1; Leadership Academy

WEEK 1: Focus: What is sacrifice?

CORE-Leadership

Knowledge: Do all of these

#1 Plan out your week and either write it down in your planner or plan it out with your parent/running partner.

 #2 Do a Word Study: Sacrifice and bring it to share

#3 Read the opening article, scripture for the month, and Gettysburg address at least one time

#4 Read Max Lucado: Ch 3 “The Touch of God” and bring your favorite quote from it

#5 Read chapters 1-5 of “A Long Walk to Water”

Understanding:  Choose one or more of the following or create one of your own

-Do a collage or piece of art, write a poem or learn a piece of music about godly hands or the power of touch.

-Do another word study on a word you feel inspired to go into further depth with after your reading

-Prayerfully find a scripture or poem that reminds you of something you read in your preparation for class this week and either memorize it or make a display or card for you to hang somewhere where you will see it daily and think about it.

-Observe and write down at least three people you know of that reach out with gentle hands to you in your life.  Write a note thanking them.

-Write down a list of 10 things that might make people the “social outcasts” that Max Lucado mentioned. Pick three and think of one way each you could reach out and help them.

-Write down three examples of people who experience conflict in “A Long Walk to Water” and identify a way you would have tried to act in those situations as someone who was looking on.

Intelligence:   Choose one or more of the following

-Look around for people who could use your “touch,” through email, a warm smile, a hand shake, a hug, a gentle word.  Pick at least one person to share a godly touch with.  Write in your journal, tell a parent or friend, or come and share how it went.

-Teach a FHE on what you learned this week.  Come back and share how it went: favorite quotes, thoughts, comments, etc.

Come prepared to participate in a Simulation!