Leadership La Porte County recently completed its annual high school leadership program for students in La Porte County. Each high school in La Porte County was asked to nominate 5 students for participation in the program. Participating high schools included: La Crosse, La Porte, Marquette Catholic, Michigan City, New Prairie, South Central and Westville. Three all-day sessions were held at Red Mill County Park. Facilitators for the seminars were Leadership Executive Director, Monica Komasinski, and Jim Jessup, a founding board member of Leadership La Porte County and long-time volunteer. The program was funded by a community grant from the Unity Foundation of La Porte County.
The students participated in activities to enhance their leadership skills such as communication, problem solving, team building, collaboration, and decision-making. At the opening session they did a personality assessment to better understand group dynamics and individual personality traits. Michigan City Chief of Police, Dion Campbell, was a featured speaker at the opening session, challenging the students to be courageous, passionate, and setting high standards for themselves. Lauren Varga, from the Unity Foundation of La Porte County, spoke at the second session on scholarship opportunities and connections offered by the Unity Foundation. The final session featured a panel of young professionals including Carrie Campbell, Justin Kiel, Dan Hogan, and Kurtis Iseminger. The panelists discussed their leadership journey and gave inspiring advice to the students.
Each participant received a certificate of completion and a commemorative tee shirt. The students set goals at the end of the session to complete within the next year and were encouraged to use the information learned to go out and make a difference. Student leaders were chosen from the group to assist with next year’s program. They are Norah Gartland (LaPorte), Natalie Herbert (Westville), Dylan Grieger (South Central), Audrey Henning and Olivia Ruiz (New Prairie), and Michael Smelser (Indiana Connections Career Academy).
Program Participants
La Crosse High School
- Adalynne Gorski
- Mackenzie Schultz
- Carter Welkie
LaPorte High School
- Norah Gartland
- Grant Ott-Large
- Alex Scheuchner
- Nicholas Shuble
Marquette Catholic High School
- Xaria Biggerstaff
- Jack Gausselin
- Mary Cate Neary
- Paloma Valdes
Michigan City High School
- Alyala Anderson
- Kayla Campbell
- Samantha Shaffer
New Prairie High School
- Evan Haws
- Audrey Henning
- Caleb Luther
- Olivia Ruiz
- Alissa Sonnenberg
South Central High School
- Dylan Grieger
- Zack Hancher
- Olivia Marks
- Lillian Tolmen
- Kate Welsh
Westville High School
- Natalie Herbert
- Caden Marshall
- Jesse Pavolka
- Kaden Pepper
- Maddie Stark
Home School
- Samantha Morris
Indiana Connections Career Academy
- Michael Smelser
For more information about Leadership La Porte County or its youth programs, contact Executive Director, Monica Komasinski at 219-325-8223 or by email at info@leadershiplaportecounty.com.