“Through the Student Leadership Program, you will have the opportunity to receive many valuable, learning experiences that will help you identify your own personal strengths as well as the different leadership styles and qualities of professionals in our community,” said Caldwell. “Hopefully, you will take what you learn from this program and apply it toward preparing for your future leadership roles.”
Dr. Timothy Jenney, FBISD Superintendent, also welcomed students to the program saying, “This is a great opportunity for you to meet and interact with members of the community, some of whom may serve as mentors to you somewhere down the line. Remember to take full advantage of each session and know the relationships you make in the program may last a long time as you advance through life after high school.”
Also welcoming students to the program were: Lynda Ruther, Student Leadership Program Facilitator and Ropes Course Manager; Sonal Bhuchar, FBISD Board President; Lindsay Shepheard, Executive Administrator to the Superintendent; and Beth Martinez, Director of FBISD’s Department of Organizational Development.
To begin the session, Ruther gave students an overview of the program and shared the program rules. She then joined Jim Harton, Ropes Course Manager, in leading students in a series of icebreaker activities.
“The purpose of the icebreaker activities is to allow students to become familiar with one another and learn to respect and value each other’s differences,” Ruther said. “The activities also teach students how to communicate effectively in a group setting, whether verbally or non-verbally.”
“I didn’t really know what to expect from the program, but I feel like we already know each other and that we all have so much in common,” said Leny Kerrikattu from Hightower High School. Kerrikattu is also looking forward to interacting with various community leaders and to share what she learns with her peers at Hightower.
The 24 members of Fort Bend ISD’s 2010-2011 Junior Student Leadership Cohort include: Neerja Aggarwal (Hightower), Sandy Ashkar (Elkins), Safurah Bharwani (Austin), Weston Breaux (Elkins), Jack Chadderdon (Austin), Kayla Chang-Calk (Dulles), Wen Hsuan Chu (Clements), Eric Diep (Kempner), Jerry Duran (Willowridge), Justin Garfield (Dulles), Rachel Gentry (Bush), Madison Gough (Kempner), Mehreen Haider (Austin), Hanna Hollek (Travis), Leny Kerrikattu (Hightower), Oluwati Kayo Koyejo (Clements), Kevin Kurian (Elkins), Alexis Kyle (Marshall), Varunya Limtrakul (Dulles), Sania Panjwani (Travis), Tiffany Reed (Clements), Jazmine Stinson (Willowridge), Rose Udenenwu (Marshall), and KaVonda Woodrow (Hightower)....READ MORE