Cornersville Elementary students believe they can make a difference

Cornersville Elementary students are studying Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens" through the school guidance department. The students were challenged to look around their world and see where they can make a difference. Five 6th grade girls chose to make a difference in a beautification program for the school campus.

They had to implement the habits they were learning. Habit 1 is Be Proactive: choosing a mission. The students selected the K-2 car rider area as their beautification project.

Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind: The students created a scale model of the parking area. They created their design, researched the flowers they wanted to plant and the CES rock garden. This is how they wanted the area to look in the end.

Habit 3: Put first things first: The students created a plan from start to finish and watched their ideas become reality. First they chose their mission, next they created their model and made a price list, then they had to make a formal presentation to Principal Bonnie Reese for her approval. After they got the approval, they were ready to go to work. They had to raise the $300 it was going to take to complete the project.

At Grandparents Day, they displayed their model and explained their project to the visitors. They raised half of the money. To raise the other half, they made a formal presentation to the Cornersville Action Team, who supplied the rest of their money. Then off to shop for the perfect flowers, solicit some help for digging and planting, and the plan became reality.