On June 26th, Turrentine Middle School hosted the 3rd annual Leadership Turrentine, a program administered by the Center for Leadership at Elon University. This year’s institute consisted of 16 rising seventh graders who learned about leadership through character building activities, outdoor ropes course adventures, and civic engagement. The institute was created as a way to involve students in creating a common good for their school’s community. While participating in the institute, students brainstormed and produced ideas to improve the community of Turrentine Middle School.
On the first day of the program, students spent Sunday evening learning about one another, and discovering the strengths of different leadership styles. On Monday they participated in a ropes course at Elon University and were introduced to communication and community definitions as well as the FISH philosophy, designed to improve morale and participation in groups. Civic responsibility and integrity were also a part of the curriculum through interactive and engaging discussions and workshops.
Under the direction of the Associate Dean of Students, Rex Waters and Elon’s Leadership Fellows program, the facilitators from Elon were Mallory Anderson, Ashlyn Dixon, Matt Lewis, Kristin Smith, and rising juniors from Williams High School, Matt and Brad Waters. In addition, several Elon staff members presented leadership materials to the students.
Through guided exercises on Monday and Tuesday, the students brainstormed and then narrowed their choices to three areas of community they could impact at TMS. The three ideas were presented to Principal Andy Fox, his leadership team, board members, and parents of the participants on Wednesday morning.
The student participants were: Zachary Anderson, Channing Dixon, Meredith Griffin, Carter Isley, Ashley Long, Katie Lowe, Lauren Maynard, Stej Akeiba Patterson, Dustin Resh, Brittany Rogers, Logan Thornton, Michael Touloupas, Cody Wagoner, Julie Weigand, Carylynn Willis, and Samantha Wilson.