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# SMMUSD elementary school kids learn about leadership
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/smmusd-elementary-school-kids-learn-about-leadership/
- Published: 2007-11-15T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T03:55:48.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Education, Sunset Park, #archive-import

*Students think and act locally*

SUNSET PARK Forget cutting down on homework or placing pizza on the school menu every day of the week, for the elementary students in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, the issues go deeper than workload.

A group of about 65 students representing the district’s 10 elementary schools convened at Grant Elementary School on Wednesday for a day-long leadership training workshop hosted by City at Peace-Los Angeles, a non-profit organization that empowers teenagers and gives them the skills to effect changes in their communities.

On what was an off day from class for all primary school students for the teacher-parent conferences, the fourth and fifth graders that participated in the conference spent their mornings and afternoons honing their leadership skills, identifying some of the key issues in each of their schools, brainstorming solutions and sharing ideas with their peers from the other SMMUSD Children pave way to future “Being a leader takes more than just sticking up for other people,” said Elijah Lax, a fifth grader at Grant Elementary School. “It takes a good listener, and you have to be respectful and kind to people with disabilities.”

In the elementary schools, the issues range from bullying to school safety to recycling.

The gathering on Wednesday marked the first time the district has hosted an all-elementary student conference.

“We hear so much from adults, we never hear from kids,” said Grant Principal Alan Friedenberg.

The workshop was intended, in part, to bring the diverse student population in both Santa Monica and Malibu together. Most of these students will go on to become classmates in high school, some even running for student council in the future, Friedenberg noted.

Each school sent a delegation of their brightest fourth and fifth grade students to the conference, as nominated by their principals. The students were then split into six “color councils,” each of which included a good representation of each school. Only one third grader was picked to participate in the conference — Nico Balderrama, the student-elected historian at Grant Elementary School.

The mixing of schools appeared to have an effect on the students, who seemed to befriend each other fairly quickly, spending their break-time talking about their respective schools. In one conversation, a group of students talked about how they enjoyed playing dodgeball while a student at another school complained about how that activity wasn’t offered at his elementary school. Another group of boys discussed their favorite sports.

The students engaged in a variety of leadership-training activities, including one in which they filled out a “scatter-gram” — a sheet of paper containing certain leadership attributes, such as “team player” and “thoughtful.” The terms were scattered throughout the sheet of paper. Students circled each quality with which they identified and started connecting the circles, forming a shape. The students were then able to compare the shapes with their classmates and find the peers with whom they shared the most qualities.

“Our program helps facilitate what it means to be an effective leader in school and how to harness individual and unique leadership skills,” said Stephanie Wieland, the artistic director of City at Peace-Los Angeles.

One of the more popular exercises required the students to identify an issue and performing the key points of that issue as a group statue. In the issue about the lack of recycling in schools, one student froze in a position that demonstrated his intention to recycle a bottle, while another student pretended to pat him on the back, commending his efforts to save the environment.

The students are expected to report back to their respective schools about what they learned from the workshop and see if they can effect any changes in their communities.

For Ara Bolander, a fifth grader at Webster Elementary School in Malibu, the most pressing issue is cliques.

“I’m going to see if we can work harder to go around and ask (students) if they can play with someone (they don’t know),” Bolander said.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 15, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111507.pdf?ref=smdp.com)