Parkside Education Center and S.S. Palmer Elementary in Palmerton achieved a significant milestone this week by being recognized as Lighthouse Schools through the Leader in Me program, marking the first time schools in the county have received this prestigious designation.

S.S. Palmer celebrated the achievement on Wednesday with a Leadership Carnival, featuring activities in the back parking lot and minute-to-win-it style games in the gymnasium. The daylong celebration was designed to recognize students’ academic achievements and the school’s progress in implementing the Leader in Me program.

According to Katie Gilmartin Palazzo, elementary reading specialist at SS Palmer, the journey to Lighthouse School recognition began four years ago when Principal Ralph Andrews arrived at the school.

“We were given the opportunity to start the Leader in Me program in our school,” Palazzo said. “So Parkside and SS Palmer took that on and really ran with it.”

The Leader in Me program focuses on three core areas: academics, leadership, and culture. Under Andrews’ leadership, the schools established both staff and student Lighthouse teams to guide the implementation.

“We really wanted our school to become a place where our students wanted to learn,” Palazzo said.

The recognition comes after a formal evaluation process conducted by the Leader in Me organization.

“Leader in Me came in and recognized our students and staff for all of their hard work, and we are the first Carbon County school to be recognized as a Lighthouse School, and one of the few schools in Pennsylvania to be recognized,” Palazzo said.

Central to the program’s success has been the implementation of “Wildly Important Goals,” or WIGs, as they’re called within the school community.

“We have school wigs, classroom wigs, student wigs, staff wigs, everybody sets goals for themselves,” Palazzo said.

The Leadership Carnival itself was earned through the achievement of these academic goals.

“I’m incredibly proud of our students for reaching this milestone of reaching Lighthouse,” Andrews said. “Their growth and accomplishments are a testament to their hard work, but also to the dedication from our faculty. Together, we faced and conquered many challenges on our journey to Lighthouse status. Today is a celebration, not only of academic success, but of the leadership our students continue to cultivate each year.”

Students have embraced their leadership roles within the school community. Fourth-grader Michael Anthony described Leader in Me as “being a leader, standing up for people and helping people out.”

Another fourth-grader, Jessa Smith, explained her understanding of the program: “When you do the right things instead of doing the wrong things, “ and described her role as helping “tell other students the right things.”

The program has transformed the school’s culture and climate significantly over the four-year implementation period.

“I think that’s our biggest accomplishment,” Palazzo said. “Over these last four years, the culture of the school has just changed so tremendously. The climate of the school is just a really warm place where our students want to learn and we want to come to work so it’s been a really great change.”

Physical changes to the school environment reflect student input and ownership. “You walk around our building and you’ll see it looks very different with a lot of student artwork and things like that,” Palazzo said. “We did that because that’s what the students wanted their school to look like. So we really take it as this is their school, and they should have that voice.”

The program emphasizes inclusive leadership opportunities for all students, regardless of academic performance or grade level.

“Everybody has an opportunity here, no matter what your academic goals are, no matter what you know, what age you are, what grade you’re in, what friends you have, everybody has the opportunity to show some leadership here,” Palazzo said.

Looking ahead, the schools plan to build upon their success while maintaining current achievements. Future goals include increased community involvement, with plans for a community leadership event next year.

Palazzo credited Principal Andrews’ leadership as fundamental to the program’s success.

“(Andrews) lives the seven habits that we are teaching for Leader In Me,” Palazzo said, “and he’s been such a great leader for our students and staff, and it’s just really changed his whole culture.”