In 2023, Jocelynn Buckentin, graduated from the McLeod For Tomorrow program and decided to join the board. When Student leadership got brought up as an option for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, we fully expected the idea to be tabled for the next year. Jocelynn wanted to hear more about how we could offer this level of education to high school students. You see, Jocelynn is a teacher at Hutchinson Public schools and works in the Tiger Path program, a program that offers students the opportunity to discover career paths. The reignited student-based leadership program began to develop.
What The Day Will Entail
The idea behind student leadership is to create an opportunity for the future leaders of McLeod County to experience leadership development education, network, and have a lot of fun. All McLeod County schools and homeschool students are getting invited to send a few students to the opportunity. The idea is to offer something very similar to the traditional leadership program in a way that makes sense for high school students. The idea to connect students across the county to gather with like-minded individuals.
We have four goals for the student leadership day.
- Leadership Development
- Relationship-Building
- Networking
- Learning about the economy of McLeod County
The day was specifically planned to encompass these goals and the MFT mission in mind.
To not spoil this awesome day for our students, stay tuned for an update on what the day looked like and how it went over.
How This Fits into MFT’s Mission
Our mission is “shaping McLeod County’s future by connecting communities and building leaders.” We believe that the first step in building leaders, is setting a positive tone for students to be lifelong leaders. What better investment in leadership is there than one that spans the entire adulthood and working career?
Building leaders starts with creating the future leaders. Some of these students may move away, others will stay in McLeod County. No matter what, the skills invested will continue to pay dividends for their future.
Moving into the Future
The board is excited to expand the student leadership program along with the other objectives we continue to offer annually. Funding for the student leadership program is currently underway. We are currently soliciting funds from local organizations to continue the good work of investing in McLeod county. If any organizations are interested in supporting student leadership, can make donations specifically to student leadership in both monetary and physical donations.
