Boise Sunrise/Metro and Everyday Leadership supplies headphones to Whitney Elementary School

Everyday Leadership is a program supported by the Boise Sunrise and Boise Metro Rotary Clubs. Students at 7 different Title 1 schools in Boise can attend leadership “classes” at lunch on a regular basis. This program has been developed in collaboration with these Title 1 Boise Schools, the Treasure Valley YMCA, parents, and these clubs. The targeted students are low-income 5th and 6th grade youth and the objective is to provide them with the skills and self-confidence they need to graduate from high school and attain post-high school educations.

The results have been very encouraging in terms of improved grades, reduced behavioral issues, improved attendance, and simply arming the students with these leadership skills at a critical point in their lives. During COVID, the clubs decided to use funds for home learning kits while in-person attendance was impossible. When we dove a little deeper into what items were truly in short supply, we found that headphones were a particular need that was not being met. The clubs thus purchased 200 headphones to supply to the students in an effort to help them thrive during these unique and challenging times.

At Boise Sunrise, we have a motto of Seeking To Leave It Better Than We Found It. Improving the audio quality of online education turned out to be a real need at Whitney Elementary. Rotary addressed that need through the efforts of the Everyday Leadership program and ALL of our collaborators.