Forging future leaders
Students learn skills that can take them from the classroom to the boardroom

Ashley Wiegner enjoyed Junior Achievement's annual Young Women's Forum so much the first year she attended that she asked to attend the following year. 

"I was always afraid of public speaking, and this forum helped me to overcome that fear by developing more confidence," said the Delaware Military Academy senior. "I learned how to better understand and prepare the materials for a presentation, and that's where the confidence came from."

Kaylin Matocha, a junior at Middletown High School, has been involved in a variety of student government programs since the sixth grade, so public speaking probably comes a lot more naturally to her. Currently the president of the Delaware Association of Student Councils, Matocha says she's learned that "leadership is not about me.

"It's more about learning how to be a better listener to the views of others and not dominating a discussion."

For Destiny Drummond, leadership is all about community. "I consider myself a leader in my community," says the Lincoln resident and Sussex Technical High School junior. She identifies persistence in achieving objectives, strengthening organization and interpersonal skills and learning how not to offend others as key elements in being an effective leader. 

They are all three leaders. High-school commencements often talk about the leaders of tomorrow -- but how do they get there today? Classes, extracurricular clubs and out-of-school activities are key methods. 

Curriculum programs such as the Organizational Leadership class conducted by Frank Makray at Sussex Tech, which Destiny has attended, complement out-of-school programs such as JA's Young Women's Forum and the DASC's statewide activities. 

Sam Golder, principal at A.I. du Pont High School in Greenville, underscored the importance of developing leadership skills in our schools.

"These students are our future," he said. "Beyond developing tomorrow's leaders, leadership training teaches collaboration skills, builds character and ethics and how to learn from your mistakes." 

In short, leadership development is life skills development.

Makray's Organizational Leadership class is divided into a fall and spring semester. 

"The fall program teaches students how to organize and stage in-school events as well as community-based activities," he said. "This past fall we put together teams to plan the school's homecoming programs, as well as the parade and a fundraising bonfire to benefit the community."

Makray said the spring semester features a freshman skills competition in conjunction with the national SkillsUSA organization. The focus is on developing skills necessary to eventually succeed in trade, technical and skilled service occupations. 

The leadership course includes classroom work profiling national leaders, what they do and what makes them leaders, as well as focusing on specific leadership skills including time management and prioritizing goals. 

"The emphasis is on students learning to mean what they say," said Makray. 

Rebecca Fisher, JA's vice president of education, said all Delaware high schools are eligible to submit nominees for the forum.

"We invite up to 100 students to attend the forum primarily through an interview process conducted by teachers and guidance counselors," she said.

"We developed the Young Women's Forum specifically targeting sophomores and juniors who, while not considered at-risk students, were believed to be underachieving," said Rob Eppes, president of JA Delaware. 

Eppes says the forum features job shadowing and financial literacy training.

Delaware Military Academy's Debra Certesio particularly liked the networking with business professionals statewide that the Forum offers.

"The girls will actually visit various businesses and sit with a business professional, shadowing them as they go through a typical workday," she said. "They receive firsthand experience with the leadership and networking skills to be successful in business." 

Stacy Heller has served as executive director of DASC for the past eight years and believes the role of the statewide organization is to guide student leaders into the broader community beyond their school's boundaries. 

"Students organize statewide fundraising activities as well as formulate an annual statewide program enlisting the support of student councils across the state," she said. 

This year's program is called Pay It Forward, which encourages DASC member schools to develop a variety of community-based activities involving as many students as are interested.

"Our executive board will vote on the top four projects undertaken and present those schools with a plaque of achievement," Heller said. 

Ryan Buchanan, a Student Government Association adviser at Smyrna High School, began a Student Leadership Academy four years ago. 

"In our sports programs and school clubs, we give students positions of leadership without the benefit of any leadership training," he said. "We formed the academy with the idea of providing that training." 

Buchanan said the academy targets sophomores, juniors and seniors and meets with them several times during the school year to examine the needs and expectations necessary to be an effective leader and conduct team building exercises and conflict resolution workshops. 

"We also take a group to the Appalachian Trail annually in a kind of Outward Bound framework," he said. "In the woods we'll discuss ways of earning respect from a team as its leader and work on communication skills." 

Buchanan said typically it's the same "10 kids" in the school that take leadership positions. The academy is an opportunity to develop interest in being a school leader to a broader segment of the school's student population. 

Golder points to A.I. du Pont's many school-based opportunities to development leadership skills among students. 

"Our school band is virtually a student-run organization," Golder said. "Students decide where the band will travel, where to compete. And our Parent Teacher Student

Organization is heavily weighted toward student leadership in developing fundraising activities, for instance." 

Golder said there are several student groups throughout the school charged with reporting changing student needs to him on a regular basis. 

Middletown's Matocha said she will probably remain involved in student government when she attends college, but does not anticipate making government service a career choice at this time. Still, she said broader value in her current involvement in student council.

"Just the people skills I am developing are important on their own, and will help guide me in whatever career choice I eventually make." 

Picture 1:  Kaylin Matocha introduces other high school student council presidents at a leadership conference.Photograph:  Courtesy of Kaylin Matocha.