FHSD High Schools Named MSHSAA Leadership Schools

Posted on 08/01/2017
FHSD High Schools Named MSHSAA Leadership Schools


If you were asked to guess which of the three Francis Howell School District high school sports programs that were recently named a “Leadership School” by the Missouri State High School Activities Association for the 2016-17 school year, which would you guess? If you guessed all three, you are correct. This is another example of how FHSD students are making their communities a better place to live, learn, and play … and watch a game.

Francis Howell Central High School was named a “5-Star Leadership School” for the seventh consecutive year, one of only four high schools in the state to earn the honor for all seven years of the program. FHC Activities Director Scott Harris knows just how important this is, and says it’s a team effort. “Thanks to all of the student-participants, coaches, parents, and fans who helped us achieve this award. By obtaining this distinction, it demonstrates that Francis Howell Central High School truly believes in and emphasizes sportsmanship, citizenship, leadership, and respect in its activities programs.”

Go to any FHSD home game; whether it’s at Francis Howell High School, Francis Howell North High School, or FHC and you’ll see why FHSD high schools receive accolades for their sportsmanship. This is not by accident, as coaches and school administrators strive to instill proper sportsmanship and a positive atmosphere at all events. “It’s great to see the continued efforts of those involved in our programs to be positive representatives of our District and community,” said FHHS Activities Director Sean Erwin. He elaborated on this mission, “Our coaches and sponsors do an excellent job of developing skills such as sportsmanship and leadership that will help the young men and women involved in our programs to be successful well beyond high school. The concerted effort that our coaches and activities department staff put into developing these traits has had such a positive effect on our programs and the high school buildings.”

Students, coaches, and administrators attend summits with their colleagues to find new ways to make the sports/activities experience even better; click here to read about their most recent leadership conference. Leadership committees at the school go to great lengths to ensure that the enjoyable experiences at FHSD sports and activities continue.

This past year, FHN played host to the District’s first Leadership Summit (click here to watch the video). FHN has received this distinction 12 of the past 13 years,” said FHN AD Mike Janes. “I think that schools should strive for this because extracurricular activities are an extension of the classroom. Being a MSHSAA Leadership school shows our District’s commitment to student leadership and education-based athletics/activities.”

These key cogs of our communities go to great lengths to show leadership and character, so that the names of FHSD high schools and their teams’ are synonymous with true sportsmanship.

Below is a description of the Leadership School selection process by MSHSAA:

The mission statement of the Missouri State High School Activities Association is: “The MSHSAA promotes the value of participation, sportsmanship, team play, and personal excellence to develop citizens who make positive contributions to their community and support the democratic principles of our state and nation.”

Member schools continue to experience and report an increasing number of unsportsmanlike and disrespectful incidents at their contests by participants, coaches, officials, and spectators. In order to reverse the trend of such incidents and for the MSHSAA’s mission statement to be adhered to, MSHSAA encourages each school
to form a “School Leadership Team Committee” and to strive to qualify as a “MSHSAA Leadership School.”

A “School Leadership Team Committee” shall be comprised of members representing the various areas of the school setting, including representation from the community. One member shall be named as the chair of the committee and the committee shall promote and teach citizenship, leadership, sportsmanship and respect.

Specifically, your school’s committee may include, but is not limited to:

• administrators,
• coaches/sponsors,
• teachers/staff,
• students,
• officials,
• parents,
• school board members,
• booster club members,
• etc.

Once your school has its “School Leadership Team Committee” in place and it is operational, the chair may apply to the MSHSAA for recognition by annually completing the accompanying checklist of qualifications and returning it to the MSHSAA Office along with any requested material or information. A school shall qualify as an “MSHSAA Leadership School” when it has accumulated at least 105 of the possible 125 points on the checklist during a school year. Recognition shall be in the form of the awarding of a certificate, an announcement in the MSHSAA Journal, and a listing on the MSHSAA website. Once qualified, a school may have a “MSHSAA Leadership School” banner and/or flag made.

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