Thirty-five Rutherford County high school juniors and seniors were awarded certificates of completion of Youth Leadership Rutherford (YLR) at a recent awards dinner at the DoubleTree Hotel. YLR is a year-long leadership and personal development program which educates students on the workings of and the needs of the local community. Participants learn about government, education, healthcare, business, the arts, the legal system, and the many non-profit organizations within the county. During the year, the students also learn about giving back to the community and their individual leadership styles.
“Parents and guests, tonight you are meeting some of the future leaders of our society, graduating from an elite class that has polished and enhanced our leadership skills so that we can achieve success in our future careers,” said Muhammad Fariz Ali, the class-elected speaker for the evening. “This new understanding of leadership is thanks to many people in the community who taught us and took time out of their busy schedules to tell us about their occupations or organizations and how they lead them. This program took all of us, in some way, out of our comfort zone to lead or to learn about something that we will probably never have an opportunity to do ever again. This youth leadership class has been a great experience which will be a great asset for all of us.”
Graduates of the 2012-2013 program are: Muhammad “Fariz” Ali, Savannah “Savvy” Blaylock, Katelyn Boyett, Emily Brandon, Larry “L.B.” Brandon, II, Eliza Cary, Sam Coleman, III, Joel Duke, Brennan Foy, Carter Gordon, Isaac Haley, Morgan Henderson, Jack “Jay” Hicks, Nathaniel “Nate” Hogan, Marilyn Jackson, Michael Jacobs, Kelsie “Greer” Kimbell, Matthew Lyons, Morgan Miller, Dakota Montez, Robert “Ben” Morris, David Newman, Adley Parriott, Natalie Peay, Morgan Robinson, Taylor Sanders, Hannah Savely, Julia Sculley, Seth Shepeard, Sarah Short, Jordan Simpson, Joshua “Josh” Stout, Sabrina Sutherland, Virakone Talathan, and Joshua Vasquez.
As a requirement of the program, each of these students donated a minimum of ten hours to a group project with a local non-profit. This year’s non-profit organizations were Candle Wishes, Fischer House, Greenhouse Ministries, Murfreesboro Little Theatre and Paws. Participants in YLR also decorated a Christmas tree for the annual international trees at the Discovery Center to highlight the diversity of nationalities and places in the United State where they were born, an activity YLR has been asked to do every year because this class did it so well.
“From the group projects, I have learned that it can be extremely difficult at times to accomplish a task without help,” said Greer Kimbell. “Teamwork and cooperation are absolutely imperative to forming a plan and conquering obstacles. Even though my group members had different personalities, we learned that all of our differences balanced each other out to create a unified, functional group.”
“By exploring the different parts of the community, I most of all realized how every piece is important to the puzzle and how everyone’s abilities are needed to run the county,” said Jay Hicks, summing up what he learned during the year.
“I believe all of my fellow graduates will agree when I say the most thrilling and amazing part about this class was our Orientation Retreat,” noted Ali.
The class for 2013-2014 has just been chosen and they will begin their journey with a retreat in September. Next year’s class has a exciting and challenging opportunity ahead of them, as the new YLR graduates head off to college or look at taking on more advanced leadership roles during their senior years in high school.
The Youth Leadership Rutherford program is coordinated by the Business Education Partnership Foundation and Leadership Rutherford. To learn more about this program visit the BEP Foundation website at www.rutherfordbep.org/programs/ylr and the YLR Facebook page at www.facebook.com/YouthLeaderRC.
