Longwood's Executive-in-Residence series kicked off its first event of the semester, and third out of four for the academic year, Tuesday night in Blackwell Hall with Gail W. Johnson, president and CEO of Rainbow Stations Inc. and PRISM LLC in Richmond, Va.
Johnson is an innovative leader in the early childhood education field and a pediatric registered nurse with more than four decades of experience. She is the founder and owner of Rainbow Station, the first "Leadership Preschool" in the United States.
"This is a place that I'm sad to say I waited until today to come to," Johnson said about Longwood. She said her day had been filled with a phenomenal experience to learn about the school and see the vision of the university.
Founded 22 years ago, Rainbow Station has consistently been defined as a premiere early education leader. The school has created a number of creative initiatives aimed at raising the bar of traditional preschool education on a national level. Johnson made sure Rainbow Station had its beginnings in nursing, and as someone who was a faculty member at the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing, she was able to see the struggle of families who had acute or chronic health problems.
Rainbow Station places a strong emphasis on something that Longwood business students can relate to, the seven effective habits. However, since this is a preschool, the emphasis is placed on Sean Covey's "7 Habits of Happy Kids," an initiative that focuses on leadership development far beyond academics.
Johnson said, "Our mission is to promote the success of each child in our school." Overcoming a somewhat rough start, full of people denying that Johnson's idea would actually work, today, Johnson is proof that "There is no obstacle that can't be overcome." She said she has learned while the solution may not always be on a timeline, there is one out there and working to find it is half the battle.
Instead of simply running through a list of the "7 Habits of Happy Kids," Johnson had students from one of the Rainbow Station locations in Richmond to demonstrate how they define the leader in them. Being proactive, beginning with the end in mind, putting first things first, thinking with a win-win attitude, seeking first to understand, synergizing, and sharpening one's saw were the points the students told the audience about.
"Our children are certainly walking the walk and talking the talk," said Vice President of Preschool Programs, Susan Bishop. In fact, the students may have spent as much time telling the audience, made up of Longwood students, faculty, staff and community members, just as much about Rainbow Station's values and teachings as Johnson did. They even took time to act out a skit on how thinking proactively improves attitudes.
Nicole Eubanks-Lambert, owner of Rainbow Station at Wyndham, said one of the things that Rainbow Station had to overcome was the society trap that "leaders are born." She said it was also important to realize that the children they teach will not always turn out to be a CEO, but the important aspect is for children to be the best "me."
The feedback has been outstanding, Lambert said. One father reported his preschooler coming home and telling him to "be proactive; be in charge of yourself."
"At the end of the day," Johnson said, "we want to ensure we are making a difference in the lives of children and their families. That's what we are doing. And it is working."
The Executive-in-Residence Series is a public service of the College of Business & Economics and is made possible through the generous corporate support of Barrett Capital Management LLC and SunTrust Bank Inc. This year's theme is "Leadership in Innovation."
