Martin Youth LEADERship off to a great start!

Jensen Beach, FL - On Tuesday, September 15, 2009, the 39 students and mentors the Martin Youth LEADERship Program held their first of the 2009-2010 school year monthly sessions. This month's Leadership Day was held at Indian Riverside Park. Event Coordinator, Alex Connolly offered the students a full day of, "ice-breaking", team building, and leadership exercises that helped students find his or her leadership style, and introduced them to goal setting. Connolly, from Gulf Stream Learning Council, Inc. worked with several adult volunteers such as, Heather Hoffman from BankAtlantic, Palm City. In conjunction with the volunteer leaders, the program would not be possible without the support of the individual High School staff that assist, Barbara Scharlau, from MCHS (who has been participating for 14 years); Penny Wolfe, from SFHS (who has been participating for 4 years); Nicole Nollinger, from JBHS; and Linda Jasela, from Clark Advanced Learning Center.

2009-2010 Martin Youth LEADERship Co-Chair, Diana Bruton states, "Good leaders are made not born. We understand that if you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders are developed through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. Furthermore, Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills. Finally; we and our mentor volunteers understand that the youth of Martin County are indeed our future, and it is our responsibility to provide them with the basics of Leadership. Bass' (1989 & 1990) theory of leadership states that there are three basic ways to explain how people become leaders. The first two explain the leadership development for a small number of people. These theories are:

Some personality traits may lead people naturally into leadership roles.

A crisis or important event may cause a person to rise to the occasion, which brings out extraordinary leadership qualities in an ordinary person.

People can choose to become leaders. People can learn leadership skills.

This is the most widely accepted theory today and the premise on which this (program) is based [Source: Bass, Bernard (1989). Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership: A Survey of Theory and Research. New York: Free Press]."

The Martin Youth LEADERship Program is for high school students, and is in its 13 th year. The group is continually striving to better serve the students that have made application, and been accepted in the program. The current Martin Youth LEADERship program is an opportunity for high school sophomores and juniors throughout Martin County to develop and enhance their leadership skills. Students must apply, and, on average, 37 are selected to participate in this comprehensive nine-month program that is modeled after LEADERship Martin County. Upon completion, these Leaders have learned about their community including history, government, business, arts and culture, criminal justice and the environment. Class members are given a rare opportunity to reach their highest leadership potential through sessions focusing on Covey's Effective Habits and other leadership enhancing activities. Every effort is made to select a racially, gender diverse class representing various levels of leadership experience.

Coming up on October 13, 2009, the Martin Youth LEADERship will travel to Tanah Keeta Scout Park and participate in their annual COPE (Challenge Outdoor Personal Experience), for a day of learning on the ropes course.

For more information about Martin Youth LEADERship, and how you too, might become a sponsor, donor, event coordinator or advisory board member, please see the group web site at: http://www.leadershipmcalumni.com/youth_leadership.asp, or contact 2009-2010 Chair, Diana Bruton at 963 SE Federal Hwy, Stuart, FL. 34994 (772) 286-1900.