Leadership program heads into 19th year
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on November 2, 2016 10:53 AM
A new Junior Leadership class has been chosen, and students are being prepped to learn more about their community.
The program, an offshoot of Leadership Wayne County, was introduced in 1998 as a class project for the next generation, said Janet Brock, staff liaison for Wayne Education Network, part of the Chamber of Commerce.
"This is the 19th year for the Junior Leadership program and the outcomes have been excellent over the years," she said. "We knew that some of our best and brightest young people were going off to college and never considering coming back here to work.
"The program focuses on career exploration and encourages the students to explore the many careers in our area with the hope that one day they will join Wayne County's workforce."
Each month the high school juniors participate in "class days" on a different theme -- history and education, healthcare, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, business and industry, agri-business and government and law. New this year is the category of arts, leisure and community service.
The popularity of the program has increased over the years, Ms. Brock said.
"In the last few years it's grown to around 25," she said. "This year there were so many to pick from, we upped it to 27."
Orientation was held Monday at Wayne Center, with the latest group being given an overview of the program and participating in team-building exercises.
The 2016-2017 class is made up of students representing nine public and private high schools.
Charles B. Aycock: Brenna Flanagan, Meredith Jones, Hallie Rouse, Carson Smitherman, Madison Stamper and Emily Thorne; Eastern Wayne: Bella Bowen, Zackary Childers, Claire Molloy and Matthew Sorrels
GHS: Jacoby Oliver and Keshonda Wells; Southern Wayne: Cathryn Jones and Howard Caudill; Spring Creek: Christian Yarbrough and Chloe Davis
Wayne Christian: Anna Daniels and Kasey Norris
Wayne Country Day: Hannah Fesler, Luis Lopez, Zander Pittman and Jennifer Potts
Wayne Early Middle: Kylee Coppock, Imani Danieli and John Kinsey; Wayne School of Engineering: Donald Flock and Hayley Jones.