Allan Eugene Keenan
Widmyer Elementary School
Berkeley Springs, West Virginia
89023

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate to students how in times of need the qualities of leadership will automatically surface in individuals to see that necessary tasks get accomplished.

PROCEDURE: In very close proximity to the study of John Smith and the survival of the Jamestown colony due solely to the leadership qualities displayed by him, subject your class to the following exercise. The beginning of a period or class will usually work the best because a certain element of surprise will aid in the success of this activity.

Tell your students that it is necessary for you to have them lined up in order of their age from the youngest in the front of the line to the oldest in the rear. They must be in order not only by year but also by the month and day. To add a little drama tell them that they are being timed or give them a specific amount of time to complete the task. In either case, fifteen minutes should be enough time for them to succeed or fail. Give them no further assistance or directions. Be seated and quietly wait for your "John Smith(s)" to surface and organize the class and complete the task. Be prepared for a little noise and what appears on the surface to be what one might describe as utter chaos.

Your leader may surface immediately if you have a very dominating student in the class or you may have to wait a few minutes for an unexpected leader to emerge.

Follow the exercise with a discussion on leadership having the students share their feeling and frustrations as they were bossed around by others or could not get others to follow their lead. Have them note their discouragement if they had been an attempted leader. Discuss that leaders are not always liked if people are forced to do something that they don't want to do. Many will have the ideas to accomplish the task but not everyone has the ability to get others to follow.

Explain how John Smith rose to the occasion and ordered the people of Jamestown to do the tasks necessary for their survival.

EVALUATION: Have the students write a short paragraph explaining what had taken place and what their feelings were. If you have multiple classes you can pit their times against each other or have students try to predict who will be the John Smiths in the other sections.