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Student Leadership Institute

Student Leadership Institute Applications and Recommendation forms are now available in the Academy office.

SLI Forms

SLI Forms are available for download.

Application for Admission
Recommendation Form
The Three A's of SLI

Program Objectives

  1. to introduce students to biblical principles of leadership.
  2. to assist them in developing their leadership skills.
  3. to provide them with an opportunity to apply the principles and skills they have learned

Summary of Program

The Cottage Hill Student Leadership Institute was birthed from a desire to develop a leadership culture at Cottage Hill Christian Academy. Servant leadership is a key component of our mission statement. However, as we evaluated the quality of leadership training that our students were receiving, we found that while there was some leadership training going on, it was sporadic and uncoordinated at best. This fact started us on this journey to make leadership development at Cottage Hill Christian Academy both intentional and effective. Though the Cottage Hill Student Leadership Institute is not the entire answer to developing a leadership culture at Cottage Hill, it is a key component.

The Cottage Hill Student Leadership Institute is a yearlong, voluntary program available to students in grades 9 through 12. The purpose of the program is to introduce students to biblical principles of leadership, assist them in developing their leadership skills, and provide them with an opportunity to apply the principles and skills they have learned.

The Cottage Hill Student Leadership Institute takes place through leadership modules of one-to-three sessions each. Cottage Hill Christian Academy faculty and staff as well as local community leaders facilitate the training. The Institute meets once a week during the students’ activity period.

Students earn Institute credits for the modules they attend. To remain in the program, students must earn a minimum number of academy credits throughout the school year, and credits are recorded on a leadership transcript kept in the Institute Director’s office. The program encourages students to go beyond the minimum number of credits by participating, through the school and their local churches, in other leadership opportunities such as mission trips as well as leadership camps, conferences, and workshops. Some of the module topics taught include the following:

The academy will meet during the school day, and will require a commitment of only 50 minutes per week from our students. Most of our instructors are community leaders. They are people who are in leadership positions in the business world and in local churches, so they are not just teaching theory. They are teaching from their real-life experiences that demonstrate to students how to apply leadership theories. The final reason we believe that the program will be successful is that we hold our students accountable. Through the use of the academy transcript, we can monitor the students’ progress. The seniors receive another benefit of the leadership transcript. When competing for spots on college campuses and for scholarship opportunities, these students will be able to provide evidence of specific leadership skill training they have received during their high school career. We believe that this ability will give them a significant advantage.

A student photo collage.