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 If the name Jostens rings a bell, it’s because it is indeed the
same company that makes yearbooks, graduation gifts and class rings,
among other things offered to schools and organizations. Jostens has
branched out with this program designed to help students achieve
greater success beyond the classroom by teaching them character
development in the classroom.
MPHS students are introduced to The Harbor
Basically, The Harbor is a series of character-led videos addressing
issues that affect students each and every day, according to Morgan.
The videos are full of messages that are meant to inspire students
and that is something Morgan himself is very passionate about. As
the principal of Mount Pulaski High School the past seven years,
Morgan really connects with the students and this program
facilitates his passion of helping his students to not only become
better people, but to also feel more like they are part of a
community or a family if you will.
Principal Morgan explains the situation that developed at Mount
Pulaski High School last fall following a student trip to
Springfield to take part in what was called “The Harbor Tour.”
“At the beginning of the year, Michele Clark and Denise Farnam took
forty kids who we identified as potential student leaders and sent
them to a half-day workshop at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School.”
Morgan estimated that probably thirty other schools participated in
the program that day. He continued, “They came back and those forty
kids are our leaders.”
 Meanwhile, he goes on to talk about how the students were split up
into small groups later at Mount Pulaski High School. “We’ve taken
the freshmen, sophomores and juniors and divided them into four
groups. So you’ve got four freshmen groups, four sophomore groups
and four junior groups. We only have two senior groups partly
because of two reasons. We lose a chunk of kids for co-op in the
afternoon but we also use about twenty seniors as our group leaders.
In every one of those groups there is a senior that’s helping lead
the group. So every group has two student leaders. So ideally, the
freshman group has a senior and a freshman leader in each group. For
the first semester we did this every Friday. Every Friday afternoon,
we took fifteen minutes and they watched this five minute video and
they spent the next five to ten minutes discussing the video.”
Morgan is very pleased with how well-received the videos have been
and the impact the program has had on the students. “It’s been very
effective. It’s really good stuff and they actually got to meet the
guy who’s running this whole thing,” said the principal of
approximately 170 students.
Mike Smith influences MPHS to create the “Legacy Groups”
The guy who is running the whole thing is Mike Smith, a professional
youth speaker and the host of The Harbor. According to the Jostens
website, Smith “works with young people from all walks of life,
encouraging them to pursue their passions and live out their
dreams.” Morgan was as equally impressed with Smith and his message
as the Mount Pulaski High School students were. Smith offered up
this life-changing theory that immediately struck a chord with
Morgan, “When they went to visit this presentation, he kept talking
about legacy. What is your legacy? What are you going to leave
behind?” The students from Mount Pulaski were so impressed that they
decided on the perfect name for their groups. “So we call our groups
“Legacy Groups,” stated Morgan.
Smith introduces the program in one of the videos by saying, “My
name is Mike Smith and for the past five years I’ve had one focus.
To travel around the country and inspire young people to leave a
legacy behind. As I’ve walked around hundreds of campuses and spoken
to nearly a million students I’ve noticed something’s missing. It’s
not enough for us to focus on test scores and grades and GPAs and
weighted classes. We’ve got to challenge young people to think about
the character that they’re developing each and every day. And that’s
what The Harbor aims to do. The Harbor is a free, online video
resource that focuses on putting reality before research. We’re
gonna bring real people, with real stories, to the classroom to
inspire and engage young people’s lives.”
Every one matters
The Harbor touches on topics from bullying, clicks, prejudices,
judgment, hope, time-management, diversity, mentorship, tolerance,
pressure, fear and the list goes on and on. One important concept
that Smith emphasizes is, “You have to understand something: every
one of us matters, we all matter. But if each of us can understand
that, that we all got value, that we all matter, that’s where we
begin to change the culture of our schools.” With his simple and
casual delivery, Smith is establishing a relationship with his
audience and his philosophy, “In order to change the whole world,
you must first change your world” is spot-on with these young
adults.
Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future
One student at Mount Pulaski High School who was particularly
influenced by the charismatic motivational speaker was Will Stewart.
Stewart, a senior at MPHS, said of Smith, “He’s really a good
speaker. He talked for probably three hours without any
interruptions. He talked about how he was one of the ghost kids when
he was a freshman in high school and then he became a jock and
became one of the cool kids and everyone looked up to him. Then he
finally realized that the cool kid lifestyle is not always what it’s
all summed up to be.” Good point. Smith even brings up an
interesting point to ponder in one of his videos, “Show me your
friends and I’ll show you your future.”
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Stewart also mentioned that a neat part about the videos is it’s not
just Smith doing the talking. He brings in real people who the
students may recognize from other walks of life. Stewart added, “He
has a lot of celebrity friends who are on the videos. Different
people every time talk about what they’ve been through. They talk
about just trying to do your best.”
Many of these real people are what can be called extreme sport
athletes. They talk about making a difference in the world,
something that we need now more than ever in our society. Not all
are athletes, though. Some are just ordinary folks who have
accomplished extraordinary things. Something again that students can
and need to relate to.
Another student who has been positively impacted by The Harbor
videos and the creation of the “Legacy Groups” is Danielle Miller.
Miller, a junior at MPHS, said, “I think that the “Legacy Groups”
are a really good idea. I like how it gets the whole school involved
and that we learn about each other in all different ways.”
Digital detox
In this world of constant social media, now more than ever students
learn about each other in different ways, right? Here’s another
concept that The Harbor throws at the students and both Morgan and
Stewart call it their favorite episode. The episode is titled
"Distractions and focuses on digital detox." It was best described
by Stewart like this, “Whenever Smith and his friends would go
somewhere they would all set their phone in the middle of the table
and not touch their phone and just actually talk to each another and
not look at their phone for once.” Morgan chimed in, “Or put their
phone in the glove compartment when they are driving. Try to be in
the moment.” Stewart added, “We think we are so social but we are
actually anti-social from looking at our phones. Whenever you’re
looking at your phone you’re missing the world in front of you.”
Morgan marveled at the concept being taught in the video, “The idea
of putting your phones down and connecting with one another.”
Actually having a face-to-face, real-live conversation with one
another - what a concept!
Time to talk
During the fifteen minutes together on Friday afternoon the students
do just that, too. Every video the students watch comes with
questions the students can download and discuss. As a matter of
fact, according to Morgan, “When this goes on, teachers leave the
room. The teachers are all standing outside their doors. The idea is
without the teachers there, the kids are going to be more honest
with each other. It’s students talking to students. I think that
really makes a difference, too. The fact that it is student-led.”
Morgan did mention that this spring the students meet on the first
and third Fridays of the month. He chose the option of meeting twice
a month during the spring semester and adds, “Everyone seems to like
it at the end of the day on Friday. It gives them something to think
about over the weekend.”
Back to the sense of community and family
Morgan also believes meeting with the same small group builds a
sense of community. “Hopefully there is a bond, there’s a trust
that’s gonna build. Maybe other kids at first were not sure about
this, but after maybe four or five episodes they felt safe enough to
speak up, talk and give their opinion. So often, kids are afraid to
give their opinions, afraid they’re going to get rejected, told they
are stupid or they don’t matter.”
Morgan strongly believes in the importance of building a sense of
family as well. “I think people are less likely to do mean things or
hurtful things if they feel part of a family. I’ve always thought
things like this were important. I know as a school we are so
focused on reading and writing and test scores, but we really don’t
do enough to support kids emotionally and to make good decisions.
It’s all those unwritten rules. You know: thank you, please, being
polite to people.”
Kindness and character
Unknowingly, Morgan brings up the most recent topic The Harbor is
addressing: Kindness. Ellen DeGeneres tells everyone each day at the
end of her talk show, “Be kind to one another.” It’s a simple
gesture that can carry a powerful message and along the way it
definitely builds character.
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