Leadership La Porte County recently completed its annual high
school leadership program for students in La Porte County. Each high school in La Porte County was asked
to nominate 5 students for participation in the program. Participating high schools included: La
Crosse, La Porte, Marquette Catholic, Michigan City, New Prairie, South Central
and Westville. Three all-day sessions
were held at Red Mill County Park. Facilitators for the seminars were Leadership
Executive Director, Monica Komasinski, and Jim Jessup, a founding board member
of Leadership La Porte County and long-time volunteer. The program was funded by a community grant
from the Unity Foundation of La Porte County.
The students participated in activities to enhance their
leadership skills such as communication, problem solving, team building,
collaboration, and decision-making. At
the opening session they did a personality assessment to better understand
group dynamics and individual personality traits. Michigan City Chief of Police, Dion Campbell,
was a featured speaker at the opening session, challenging the students to be courageous,
passionate, and setting high standards for themselves. Lauren Varga, from the Unity Foundation of La
Porte County, spoke at the second session on scholarship opportunities and
connections offered by the Unity Foundation.
The final session featured a
panel of young professionals including Carrie Campbell, Justin Kiel, Dan Hogan,
and Kurtis Iseminger. The panelists discussed
their leadership journey and gave inspiring advice to the students.
Each participant received a certificate of completion and a commemorative
tee shirt. The students set goals at the
end of the session to complete within the next year and were encouraged to use
the information learned to go out and make a difference. Student leaders were chosen from the group to
assist with next year’s program. They
are Norah Gartland (LaPorte), Natalie Herbert (Westville), Dylan Grieger (South
Central), Audrey Henning and Olivia Ruiz (New Prairie), and Michael Smelser (Indiana
Connections Career Academy).
