A group of Hamilton High School students dedicated a portion of the summer break to attending Miami University’s first-ever leadership camp, resulting in the development of lesson plans for the 2017-2018 school year.
The leadership camp is a result of Hamilton students participating in the Harry T. Wilks Leadership Conference. After the conference, some students approached John Wilhelm, principle of Hamilton High School, saying they wished to improve their school’s student culture.
Wilhelm and some Hamilton teachers worked with 20 students over the summer. The volunteer students, representing the assorted elements of their school, such as academics, sports, the performing arts, and student government, spent a week at Miami’s main campus in Oxford.
The new program took its lead from Ohio State University Football Coach Urban Meyer’s philosophy as expressed in his book ‘Above the Line’. In 2014 Meyer, took the Ohio State Buckeyes to the national championship and lead the University of Florida’s football team to titles twice.
The Hamilton students read Meyer’s book together during several meetings at Miami. According to Meyer, the preferable “above-the-line” behavior is the hallmark of successful people and true leaders and is characterized by control and accountability. The opposite, is the below-the-line behavior: automatic, impulsive and resistant, which leads to BCD: blame, complain, and defend.
The students were charged with creating mini-class lessons using elements from the book, and ended up putting together nine lessons. Booklet printing could preserve these lessons for future students.
