As the Director of Student Leadership, Janis Hiura provides training to students and teachers in the SOS leadership model. Mrs. Hiura plans and leads the SOS Summer Institute and has been integral to the creation of the SOS curriculum.

Janis began her teaching career thirty-three years ago.  She instilled the "AP" mentality in her class and began the leadership model that the Society of Students is based on today.  After receiving her Masters of Arts Degree in Reading, she served as a Language Arts Coordinator for eight years. 

The Annenberg Grant allowed her to leave the classroom and develop student capacity through leadership, growing the Society of Students from her 5th grade class to permeate the entire Breed Street School.  SOS was born and Mrs. Hiura’s dream of student-driven leadership became a reality. The model has now spread to five elementary schools and has reached as far as Atlanta, Georgia.