CMSD teaches students about the 10-week L.E.A.D. program
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The Columbus Municipal School District is adding emotional awareness to student’s academic learning.
The district is introducing the L.E.A.D program which helps K-12 students understand the dangers of drugs and violence.
Nationwide, the Law Enforcement Against Drugs and Violence or L.E.A.D program has been around for 10 years.
The 10-week course teaches students effective communication and conflict-resolution skills.
The Columbus Municipal School District is bringing in the program to help students avoid the pitfalls of drugs and violence.
Chief of Police for the district, Natashea Brown is the instructor for the course.
She said the program is geared toward helping youth in their decision-making process.
“So a couple of years ago, we were dealing with social and emotional learning in the district and trying to get an education program that fit the needs of this community and I students,” Brown said. “So, this was the best program that we saw that we thought we could use to help our students become the best them.”
L.E.A.D. will be taught at Columbus Middle School, Columbus High School, and Columbus Success Academy.
Students said the program helps them manage their emotions and set goals.
“Some people don’t really know what they want to do or how to handle their emotions and all that,” Taylor Shields said. “So the L.E.A.D program can help you solve some of these problems. Because in my opinion with our generation, there’s a lot of us that don’t really know what they are going to do, don’t really know how to plan for stuff and I had learned like a step process about it.”
“I’m in the eleventh grade so I’m trying to focus on bettering myself and bettering my education and I feel like that program was able to help me with that,” Collin Moore said.
Chief Brown said the anti-drug and anti-violence curriculum creates a fearless environment for the youth in the community.
“This is our future and so to be able to kind of have a hand in them growing has been just remarkable. Not only have they learned and grown, I’ve learned and grown.”
The L.E.A.D curriculum is being used in 46 states so far.
