Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

North Las Vegas mayor talks to students about leadership

Leadership Assembly With NLV Mayor John Lee

Steve Marcus

North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee takes questions from students during a virtual leadership assembly at the Somerset Academy, a charter school in North Las Vegas, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. Lee was the featured speaker.

Leadership Assembly With NLV Mayor John Lee

North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee speaks during a virtual leadership assembly at the Somerset Academy, a charter school in North Las Vegas, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. Lee was the featured speaker. Launch slideshow »

The key to developing a strong team is surrounding yourself with honest people, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee told students at Somerset Academy today.

Lee, who spoke to 5th- through 8th-grade students about leadership during a Zoom assembly, talked about how his time as a state assemblyman and senator led him to leading the city. “I didn’t become mayor overnight,” he said.

Lawrence Brown Jr., who teaches a leadership class at the North Las Vegas school, invited Lee to speak. The mayor addressed about 300 students, parents and teachers on Zoom.

At least four students, however, got to meet the mayor in person. 

Lindsee Pretty, 13, sang “Alexander Hamilton” from the musical “Hamilton” before Lee took the podium.

"She came to me and said, ‘I want to perform in front of Mayor John Lee’," Brown said.

Pretty fidgeted at the podium with a TV news camera pointed at her and the mayor standing behind her, but her voice rose from a whisper and she became absorbed in the song.

“I was a wreck. I messed up at the beginning,” she said after the assembly.

Nevaeh Johnson, 12, excitedly wiggled in her seat before it came her time to speak at the assembly. The 7th-grader praised her teachers for always reminding students "there is more than one way to solve a problem."

Johnson, wearing a shirt with the Somerset Academy logo on it, later said Lee’s talk was inspiring. 

"I learned that a leader is not scared to walk alone and not scared to do something (right), even if it means everybody hating them or not liking them,” she said.

Somerset Academy, a kindergarten through 8th-grade school, has been open for hybrid learning since September. Brown wanted to put together a special event for students struggling with the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Some of them feel like they are living in a box right now,” he said.

Lee’s grandchildren went to Somerset Academy. As a state senator, Lee represented District 1, which encompasses most of Las Vegas, parts of North Las Vegas and parts of unincorporated Clark County, from 2004 to 2012. He was a Nevada assemblyman for six years.

Lee told the students they have the potential to become mayor someday, too.

"When nobody else will lead, you’ve got to lead," Lee said pointing toward the students on the computer screen.