How a School Built Its Culture Around the 7 Habits — and the Academics Followed — Episode 965
A struggling Title I school built its culture around the 7 Habits — and the academics followed. Principal Muriel Summers tells how.
In 1999, Muriel Summers became principal of A.B. Combs Elementary in Raleigh, North Carolina — the fifth person interviewed for a job four others had walked away from. She had just heard Dr. Stephen Covey speak, and she went back to her staff with one question: do you think we can teach these habits to children? There was no framework. There was no money. What they built turned A.B. Combs into the original Leader in Me school and one of the most visited schools in the world.
Muriel is now Global Ambassador for the Leader in Me, co-author of the updated The Leader in Me, and co-author with David K. Hatch of the new book Teacher Believed in Me. This is a Motivational Monday conversation for every educator heading back to school.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- Why Muriel fixed the school's culture first and let the academics follow — "you don't have to worry about the academics, they just happen"
- The one question she asked parents, students, teachers, and local business leaders before changing anything, and what each group actually said
- The three words posted above the front door that every child read getting off the bus: you are seen, you are known, you are loved
- How children as young as five were taught to interview teacher candidates — and the one time in twenty years Muriel overruled them (she was wrong)
- What "every child has genius" looks like in practice, from 900 pieces of art on the walls to a morning meeting that matters as much as instruction
Full show notes, resources, and Muriel's books: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e965
If this episode gave you something to use tomorrow, please rate and review the show wherever you're listening — it's the single best way to help another teacher find it. And share it with a colleague who's rebuilding their classroom culture this year.
