Who Leads the Pride: Fostering Student Leadership with Don't Feed the Lion

Don’t Feed the Lion: Introduction

Don’t Feed the Lion by Bianna Golodryga and Yonit Levi explores the story of antisemitism growing at Oakdale Middle School. The story begins with Theo Kaplan, a 13-year-old Chicago middle schooler and soccer captain. Theo’s world is turned upside down when his professional soccer idol, Wes Mitchell, makes an antisemitic comment that goes viral. The situation escalates when Theo discovers a swastika drawn on his gym locker. Theo is left to grapple with his own reaction to the graffiti, along with the prejudice and apathy from his teammates and administration and the reactions from his family members. Joined by a new friend, Gabe; his co-captain and best friend, Connor; his younger sister, Annie, and his parents and grandparents, Theo struggles through his initial desire to ignore the hate and focus on soccer and ultimately learns about the impact of bigotry on himself and his community. The middle grades novel Don’t Feed the Lion asks readers to consider: when confronted with antisemitism, what do you do? 

As educators, we often encourage our students to act as leaders or take on leadership roles, yet leadership looks different for every young person. It’s easy to imagine leaders as the people who organize a petition, lead protests, or deliver rousing speeches. And while all of those actions are those of a leader, so too is offering support to a friend, writing a letter to your principal, or helping to put up posters around school. Leadership can be loud and visible, and leadership can also be quiet and uplifting. It’s essential for young people to understand leadership can take many forms and that each form is valuable. 

In the middle grades novel Don’t Feed the Lion by Bianna Golodryga and Yonit Levi, a series of young people make very different choices in responding to a series of antisemitic incidents in their school and larger community. While each young person has their own style, they lead in their own way. The lesson and resources below are designed to facilitate a conversation through the lens of a novel with young people about leadership—from different strengths to different approaches, and where additional adult intervention may be warranted. Utilizing fictional characters and fictional scenarios through a novel allows students a mirror and window into how they themselves might respond to incidents like antisemitism and how they can act as leaders within their school communities. 

Leadership Profiles

The young people in the middle grades novel Don't Feed the Lion all take different approaches to respond to incidents of antisemitism. The leadership profiles of these characters have been designed to begin conversations with young people about their own leadership styles and how they can lead for change in their schools and communities.

Explore the profiles

CASEL's SEL Competencies

Discussing leadership profiles with students, aligns with CASEL’s Social Emotional Learning competencies:

• Self-Awareness: The abilities to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. 
• Self-Management: The ability to regulate emotions and behaviors in different situations. 
• Social Awareness: The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, & contexts. 
• Relationship Skills: The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. 
• Responsible Decision-Making: The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations.