LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
The leaders and scholars attend a monthly 3.5-hour Leadership Development Workshop at Xavier University, which includes team-building exercises, breakout sessions to further develop specific leadership skills, and motivational speakers. In addition, near the beginning of each year, we take all of the leaders and scholars on a field trip to Camp Joy to develop their leadership skills.
Aside from teaching the leaders and scholars about leadership, we allow them to learn experientially through team projects. In their mentoring teams, the leaders and scholars collaborate on a project that is aimed at improving some aspect of their schools and/or communities. They develop these projects entirely from scratch and are responsible for all aspects of the projects, including the initial brainstorming, vision and goal-setting, planning action steps, fundraising (if necessary), implementing the project, and evaluating the results.
The students also learn experientially through other projects, such as debates, interviews, and career days. During the debate, the leaders and scholars, in their teams, present the affirmative and negative arguments of a certain resolution. The judges, volunteer members of the community, determine the winning team of each round. The debate enables the students to develop their analytical thinking, communication, and interpersonal skills in a fun and challenging setting.
The interview project is an opportunity for the leaders and scholars, in their teams, to interview numerous leaders throughout the Greater Cincinnati region. These leaders include politicians, educators, lawyers, doctors, media personalities, business professionals, philanthropists, etc. Through these interviews, the students try to ascertain the common characteristics of leaders. They will ask questions regarding how these individuals are leaders, how they obtained their leadership status, and which obstacles they have overcome during their journey to become excellent leaders. Then, the students publish their results, enabling all of the other leaders and scholars to learn from their experience.
We train the leaders in a two-day, overnight retreat at the end of the summer, prior to their meeting with their scholars for the first time.