What could inspire high school students to say, there is really no better feeling than having a good time while helping the community and learning to be a better leader? Or to say, for my last year being in high school, this experience is something I will takewith me for life?
Several years ago, when Michele Fidance, national director of the Jefferson Foundation, contacted Karen Stein, associate professor in the Biden School, to see if there might be some interest in partnering to promote leadership development and volunteerism in Delaware high schools, neither one foresaw that Organizational and Community Leadership (OCL) majors would develop and implement a national model for leadership training as part of Jeffersons Students In Action (SIA) initiative.
In my experience over the last 12 years working with Dr. Stein and her Lead 490 class, her capstone students have brought leadership to life to all of the Delaware Jefferson Awards Students in Action high schoolers and middle school students who attend our Fall Leadership Conference. Each year I have had the pleasure of working hand in hand with the capstone students as they design and facilitate the conference for over 200 Delaware student leaders. Their creative and innovative approach to teaching leadership has proved to be a model that over half of the 13 Jefferson Awards Leadership Communities have adopted, said Fidance.
Each fall , the students in Steins LEAD 490 senior capstone course are faced with a specific challenge: to put into practice all they have learned throughout their past coursework and experiences in the major by creating and implementing a day-long innovative conference for Delaware middle school and high school students that provides specific leadership skill building and enriches their capacity and desire to actively engage in the Jefferson Awards ideals of leadership, community service and volunteerism.
Adding to the challenge was that attending the event, scheduled for a Saturday morning in cold November, would be entirely voluntary. As Dr. Stein explained to her students, leadership is about inspiring a common vision, but you cant stop there. Its one thing to have people say they support something; its quite another leadership challenge, and it takes hard work, to inspire people to actually participate and personally engage in that vision."
So the OCL seniors produced entertaining videos, created a twitter account, and became leadership coaches in classrooms to promote the event and, equally important, make leadership exciting and fun so that these young students would not only sign up to attend, but would really want to attend.
