Longwood College of Business and Economics Gives $10k to PECES to Support Leadership Development

At Prince Edward County Elementary School (PECES), discipline referrals are down 21 percent, and students have been energized with several new programs, including a daily TV news operation.

Surprisingly, Longwood University’s College of Business and Economics has been influential in bringing about these changes. On May 7, the college demonstrated the depth of its commitment to public education in its home community with a $10,000 gift to PECES.

Referring to the business ethics crisis in the mortgage industry, banking and investment companies, Barrett said, “It took a generation or two to bleed the USA of ethics and values, and it will take a similarly longer investment to re-infuse values back into the DNA of this society.”

Barrett is pinning his hopes on a process called The Leader in Me, a school transformation model based on the The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that has been implemented at 1,500 schools around the world, including 17 in Virginia. The 7 Habits principles are based on a 1989 book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.

Barrett brought The Leader In Me to the attention of the Prince Edward County School System, and it was implemented at the county’s elementary school at the beginning of the 2013-14 school year. The $10,000 gift from Longwood’s College of Business and Economics will support further implementation of the model at PECES next year.

Students already are taking The Leader in Me principles—which include leadership, responsibility, accountability and teamwork—to heart, say school officials.

“I see students taking more responsibility in their behavior, in their learning and in other activities around school,” said Dr. David Smith, superintendent of the Prince Edward County Schools.

“Many of the schools with The Leader in Me show significant improvements in culture and behavior within a short time,” said Barrett. “There is a ton of documentation that says that when it’s implemented, discipline problems go down, and test scores and morale go up. It dovetails perfectly with the values-based leadership we’re trying to instill in our students and with our commitment to our local schools.”

Barrett believes in the power of The Leader in Me and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People because he’s seen the basic principles work—in elementary schools, in universities and at companies. Longwood began The 7 Habits training of all faculty, staff and students in 2010 after receiving a $100,000 gift from Tom DeWitt, a 1998 Longwood graduate who is the president and CEO of SNVC, a Fairfax-based information technology firm.

Said Barrett, “The breakdown in business ethics occurred over a long time, and it will take a long time to build them back up.”