HCHS students attend Chamber Youth Leadership program

(Editor’s Note: The following was submitted by Melissa Goodman and Melissa Jackson, Hickman County Schools)

There were 19 eager Leadership students who unloaded the bus and entered the cabin ready to learn, play, and eat.

The 10th year of the Hickman County Chamber of Commerce Youth Leadership Program began this school year with an overnight retreat at the Cabin at Bellewoode (Bone Cabin). Melissa Goodman, Hickman County Extension Agent, one of the four group leaders, immediately gave out a pretest on leadership and began summarizing what Chamber Leadership would entail for each of these Hickman County freshmen and sophomores.

The program, supported by the Chamber, local businesses, non-profits and the Hickman County School Board, is free for the students. Students are expected to fully participate, maintain good grades and prepare a group presentation project to present at graduation in May. Students are also expected to volunteer ten hours at Chamber sponsored events and prepare a press release for local media.

Melissa Goodman, Extension Agent, led team building games. Melissa Jackson, Community Education Director, brought a balloon popping ice breaker game for leaders and students to learn more about each other. Paula McCuiston, Extension Agent, gave the instructions and materials to aid students in building balloon towers. The yearly after-dark scavenger hunt was a big hit with the students, and aided them in bonding with their newly assigned leadership groups.

Laura Poole, from the Hickman County Museum, spoke on the history of Hickman County and answered the group’s questions about days past.

Jarrod Burgess spoke to the students about entrepreneurship, business, and leadership.
The Chamber Leadership Committee then discussed the content of the student notebooks which lays out the entire project and theme day materials. Mattea Mitchell, Extension Agent, joined Paula, Melissa Jackson and Melissa Goodman in the discussion of potential community problems with the class.

Student’s project teams were unveiled and they divided into five teams. They took a walk to choose a topic to research from a list of problems prepared by the Leadership Committee. Once the group chose a topic, they raced to claim the one they had chosen. This year, the teams will focus on media, jobs, business, beautification, and youth.

The Leadership’s first Theme Day trip will allow the students to explore Tourism and Cultural Heritage, in mid-September.

Other field trips will include agriculture and natural resources, medical and health, business and commerce, and law and government. Students will also participate in guided project work days to prepare their presentations and individual leadership skills.

Students were informed that this is a learning activity and a competition with cash prizes awarded to the winning team project.

They are eager for the challenge. No matter which team gets the most points from competition judges in May 2019, if past is prologue, every student will leave the program with new friends, greater self-confidence and an increased knowledge of the world around them.