The Butler Way Future Focused Leadership Academy was a great success! We had students from seven different Indianapolis high schools come together to learn about and explore topics necessary for success in classrooms today and the workforce in their future. Through curriculum and engaging activities, students were able to enhance skills including critical thinking, creativity, resilience, and more. As EPPSP students, we were able to watch our lesson in action and make necessary changes and updates to increase their effectiveness. We are confident that each of these lessons (detailed further below) will provide schools with needed research-based information and interactive activities. We strongly encourage educators to use applicable lessons, or all of the provided lessons, in the upcoming school year.
The afternoon sessions of the academy were spent in small groups in which students created practical and relevant projects to take back to their own school community. Students brainstormed ideas based on what they felt was lacking or needed improving at their home school. As a team, they then learned about and created a SMART goal, researched the topic, and put a presentation together. These presentations were then shared to a group of family members, EPPSP students, and area educators and administrators later in the week. Each group will be provided with a reflection task in October of 2021; they will explain how their project has been implemented, successes and challenges they faced, and changes they would make. At that time, the College of Education at Butler University will name one project as the recipient of The Butler Youth Service Award. We look forward to sharing the winning project so that other schools can emulate the work to improve their school community.
We invite you to explore, engage, and discuss the 
vision of schools and education through the eyes of Butler EPPSP’s Butler Way Future Focused Leadership Academy here.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Dani Fegett & Buffy VanWienen
Future Focused Steering Committee, Group 39
