They want to buy more books for their middle schools and renovate bathrooms with fresh paint. They’d also like to expand extracurricular programs, and introduce biodegradable trays to the lunchroom. For students in the Alamance Youth Leadership Academy, Wednesday morning’s closing ceremony in McKinnon Hall was a time to share school improvement projects for the year ahead with parents and local educators.
Forty-five students from Turrentine, Southern, Graham, Burlington Day, Clover Garden, and Hawfields middle schools enrolled in the academy, which brought them to campus from June 19-22. Co-sponsored by Elon University’s Center for Leadership and the Alamance County Chamber of Commerce, the middle school leadership program now in its ninth year is dedicated to empowering youth through the connections of civic engagement and leadership development.
Students from each school will work together on one area of interest to improve their buildings during 2011-2012.
“I’m always impressed with the level of maturity and understanding the students bring as they hope to implement change at their schools to improve their community,” said Rex Waters, associate dean of students at Elon. “They certainly look at it from their perspective, but they’re able to look at it globally and consider how the things they want to address impact others.”
“My energy and enthusiasm in this comes from being a small part in unleashing their potential. They’re savvy from the standpoint of understanding some of their school needs, and they’re very interested in what role they can play in impacting some of today’s issues.”
Corporate sponsors Labcorp, Piedmont Natural Gas and the Hayden-Harman Foundation helped underwrite the program.
Barbara Massey, vice president of workforce and leadership development with the Alamance County Chamber of Commerce, told the students, parents and educators gathered for the presentations and closing ceremonies that the sophisticated nature of planning school improvement projects should not be underrated.
“They like their schools and they like their communities, but as leaders they were challenged with thinking of ways to improve them,” Massey said. “This is not the end. It is truly just the beginning.”
Elon University students and one high school student helped facilitate the academy. They are:
Amber Massey
Cara McClain
Chelsea Yarborough
Kara Schillings
Kiki Murrain
Kathryn Huffman
Sophie Meacham (high school)
Jeremy Inglesi
Kuylain Howard
Andrew Stevenson
Edward Burns