For the fourth year, Southern
Maryland teens got a leg up toward becoming effective leaders in their
communities during the unique LEAD summer camp experience.
A highly diverse group of 44
students from public and private high schools in Calvert, Charles and St.
Mary’s counties took on a comprehensive course in leadership, learning about
motivation and empowerment, diversity, group dynamics and goal setting. While
rigorous with workshops, group projects and hands-on service, the delegates
also had ample time to get to know each other and create lasting memories and
friendships.
LEAD 2013 is a partnership between
Leadership Southern Maryland (LSM) and the Maryland Leadership Workshops (MLW),
with a mission to inspire and empower youth to become catalysts for positive
change which coincides perfectly with LSM’s mission of regional collaboration.
In fact, LEAD is an acronym for Leadership, Experience, Advocacy and
Discipline, all components of the teens’ experience.
The four-day, three-night camp
welcomed rising sophomores, juniors and seniors to St. Mary’s College of
Maryland, where they experienced campus living. LSM board members sat in on
discussions offering mentorship and examples of how leadership works in the
real world.
Guest speakers Ken Carkhuff and Kim
Mozingo joined the delegates on the first evening for a workshop asking them to
define leadership. Both told the group about the importance of humility, a
strong moral compass and getting to know the people you work with.
Carkuff told the inquisitive teens,
“Everybody has a story in life and when you take the time to hear it, you
develop stronger relationships and become a stronger leader.”
Students were asked to assess their
own and others’ leadership styles. LaPlata High School senior Jake Lind said he
acquired several new skills and discovered some talents he didn’t even know he
had.
On the final day of camp, Calvert
High School senior Robert White said, “[I learned] that I can be a great leader
someday.” He said he would encourage others to experience LEAD at least once.
Purposely paired with dorm mates
from different schools, with different interests, the delegates were encouraged
to connect with their peers, find common ground and, through lessons learned in
the diversity workshop, accept them and respect their differences.
Nailah Jefferson said she was pulled out of her shyness,
commenting, “The experience of LEAD was a blessing and I loved every part.”
Jefferson, like several delegates, said the diversity training, while highly
emotional, was among her favorite parts of camp. “I learned how to look on the
inside of a person and not judge them based on outward appearance,” she said.
Thomas Stone High School student
Lainie Richards felt a sense of camaraderie at LEAD and stated, “My favorite
experience was people liking me for me … all my life, I have been picked on and
coming here was like a breath of fresh air.”
The MLW staffers are also a diverse
group and are often just a few years older than the delegates, creating a
comfortable and respectful environment in which to learn and share experiences.
The staff supervised and played a great deal of get-to-know-you games with the
delegates and taught thought-provoking workshops, all while maintaining the
safety of the students and making sure each of the 44 delegates participated in
the experience to the fullest.
One wheelchair-bound delegate
participated in every activity and got around campus quite independently, only
requiring the willing assistance of her new friends a few times. Many said they
were inspired by her determination to not be treated differently.
Another delegate who faces the
challenges of a neurodevelopmental disorder attended this year’s LEAD camp and
participated right alongside his peers without special treatment. In a letter
of appreciation, a relative of his praised all involved in the program. She
wrote, “I’m not sure that the instructors and volunteers realize how much he
absorbed, but he told me personally about leadership, action and
accountability. And to this I say WOW!”
To ensure all qualified delegates
could attend, 12 full or partial scholarships were granted thanks to support
from The Patuxent Partnership, SMECO, Lexington Park Rotary Club,
Mechanicsville and Ridge Lions Clubs and members of LSM’s Class of 2013.
Other students came to better understand their personal strengths and
weaknesses, and were ready to put their newly-gained skills to use directly.
Max Lucas, a junior at Great Mills
High School, said, “LEAD really helps you understand who you are and how you
lead and treat others.” He said he plans to apply the skills learned about
motivating apathetic people as Platoon Leader of his school’s NJROTC program.
Some students raved about the
memorable evening bonfire and others said they simply enjoyed making friends
with new people they may not have otherwise met.
Delegates enjoyed the experiential
learning aspects of the program, with a tour of Historic St. Mary’s City and a
morning on the waterfront, getting up close and personal with some oysters and
the St. Mary’s River.
While touring the State House and
the replica of The Dove, the group learned just how timeless some of the
principles of leadership are, as they heard details about the life of Lord
Baltimore and the tribulations of the early colony founded on religious
freedom.
On Tuesday morning, the delegates
trekked down to the waterfront at the college to join staff and volunteers from
the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association for some hands-on community service
restoring the local oyster population.
For the second year, the Association
has partnered with LEAD to connect delegates with their environment and educate
them about water quality and oysters as powerful filters of the rivers and the
Chesapeake Bay.
Executive Director Bob Lewis explained the mission of the
Association and how the approach is two-fold, including both restoration of the
oyster population and curbing pollution. He issued safety guidelines then
directed the groups to one of three stations. Students learned about the
creatures that call the St. Mary’s River home, encountering a feisty blue crab,
jellyfish and fish of all sizes as they took turns with a 100-foot seining net.
Steve Schneider, a Maryland
Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Biologist explained aquaculture, the
life cycles of oysters, their critical function within the ecosystem and this
once abundant bivalve’s history in Southern Maryland. He and Association
board member John Spinicchia discussed current projects aimed at restoring
oyster populations close to home and the many ways delegates and the entire
community can help by being more conscious in their daily lives to avoid
harming the watershed.
Groups of students rode out on a
barge guided by seasoned waterman and boat captain Craig Kelley with stacks of
Marylanders Grow Oysters cages to be emptied onto the three-dimensional oyster
reef at the oyster sanctuary in St. Mary’s River. With the LEAD delegates’
help, about 600,000 oysters were introduced into this innovative habitat
restoration project.
Program Director Alison Rugila and several summer interns guided the students
through unloading about 100 bushels of spat-on-shell from the Association’s
oyster nursery tank, then putting 200 bags of washed shell back in along with
2.5 million larvae.
LEAD alum and Great Mills senior
Jared Kimmey, was working hard as part of his internship with St. Mary’s River
Watershed Association. The inaugural oyster planting he participated in as part
of his LEAD experience last year made a significant impact on him and his group
selected raising awareness about oyster restoration and environmental issues
among their peers as the subject of its final synthesis project.
This year, delegates divided into
two groups and offered synthesis project presentations before their fellow
delegates, the MLW staffers and a panel of Leadership Southern Maryland board
members. One group decided to focus on decreasing childhood obesity, sharing
the staggering statistics of how commonplace an unhealthy diet and a lack of
exercise has become for kids. They suggested solutions, like adults setting a
better example, more community events and recreation centers that encourage
more young people to get out, active, and healthy.
The other group began and ended
their presentation by acting out a scene. At first, a new student was fraught
with no help from her classmates, and in the end, with the group’s mentoring
initiative in place, the student’s experience was greatly improved.
The group’s concept was pairing a junior with an incoming freshman or new
student to help acquaint them with the school and allow them not feel so lost
and alone.
Both groups answered questions from
the LSM panel and from parents, showing they had action plans in place and
explaining how they worked as a group to construct these projects.
Executive Director Karen Holcomb reminded the students they
have LSM as an agent to work on their behalf should they want to pursue these
and other topics relevant to their communities. Holcomb was very involved with
the program this year and said, “It is terrific to participate alongside the
delegates and truly see the program content and meaning emerge through
activities and projects … not to mention the bonfires, barges and oysters!”
Whether students were encouraged to
attend LEAD 2013 by advisors in their schools, family members or from seeing an
ad in the local newspaper, they all agreed the skills gained and boost in
confidence will benefit them now and in the future.
Olivia Keithley, MLW Assistant
Director, said, “This year’s LEAD delegates reminded me of the incredible
ability and power young people have when they come together as
leaders. These 44 young people are most definitely well equipped with the
tools they need to make a positive change in their schools and communities,”
she said.
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