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 nominated five students for participation in the program. Participating high schools included: La Porte, Lalumiere, Marquette Catholic, Michigan City, New Prairie, South Central, Tri-Township and Westville. The program was funded by a community grant from the Unity Foundation of La Porte County.

Three all-day sessions were held this Spring at Red Mill County Park. The program was facilitated by Leadership La Porte County’s Executive Director, Monica Komasinski, with support from many community guest speakers and Leadership La Porte County Board members. Student leaders assisting with this year’s program were Brayden Sobecki (LaPorte), Lewis Seitz (Westville), Emily Newburn (South Central), Alexa Reyes (Marquette), Logan Thibodeau (New Prairie) and Caitlin Mason (Michigan City).

The students participated in activities to enhance their leadership skills such as communication, problem solving, team building, collaboration, and decision-making. They also completed community service projects with additional students from their schools. Projects included trash pick-up in multiple locations, serving a meal at the Pax Center, and a clothing drive.

At the opening session they did a personality assessment to better understand group dynamics and individual personality traits. Guest speakers at various times throughout the sessions included: Nate Loucks (State Street Community Church & The Pax Center, Harrison Holtkamp (Nest Community Center), and Angie Nelson Deuitch (Mayor, Michigan City). At the final session, a panel of young professionals, Erik Nelson, Kyla Sinkiewicz and Dan Hogan 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 selected by their peers to assist with next year’s program include Christian Lake (Lalumiere), Enrico Ortega-Chick (Marquette), Lupita Osornio (Tri Township), Malachi Washington (La Porte), Mark Wert (Westville) and Alyssa Workman (Michigan City).

For more information about Leadership La Porte County or its youth programs, contact Executive Director, Monica Komasinski at 219-325-8223 or by email at info@leadershiplaportecounty.com.