Two schools unite to train students to be future leaders

What does a Lincolnshire public high school with more than 4,500 students and an all-boys Catholic high school with fewer than 1,000 students in Burbank, Ill., have in common?

Stevenson High School and St. Laurence Catholic High School recently discovered it.

Both schools teach that leadership is an important goal in life, said Greg Sherwin.

"We both teach the same skills to our students. It became a matter of merging the programs together," said Sherwin, Stevenson's director of student activities.

This past year, both schools decided to collaborate and create the Leadership Academy.

Both already had leadership programs in place. Stevenson's previous student activities director, Chris Franken, had created the Student Leadership Academy, a 10-week non-credit course.

"Many students are appointed to a leadership position with no formal training," he said. "This gives them basic formal training."

It was Franken's experience that led his friend, Mark Scott, vice president at St. Laurence, to ask if he would help build up his school's leadership program.

Sherwin said he, Scott and Franken worked together to create a vision in which both schools would work together.

"The goal is to expand leadership training for all high school students in the Chicago area," Sherwin said. "Stevenson serves as the north campus and St. Laurence as the south."

By consulting with the Illinois Directors of Student Activities, Sherwin said they were able to plan topics to discuss and when to offer the academy to students.

"We followed the advice we give to the kids. Be prepared ahead of time and know what to anticipate," he said.

Among the sessions, Sherwin said he teaches the students how to organize themselves and their groups, and how to run effective meetings. In addition to two workshops, the students have time to share ideas.

The Academy has so far been offered twice this summer. Stevenson has welcomed students from Carmel Catholic, Vernon Hills, Warren Libertyville as well as Maine West and Niles West.

The Leadership Academy also was hired by the Illinois Directors of Student Activities to run its state leadership conference last March.

As a result of the program, Sherwin said, staff leaders from schools such as Fremd and Maine West have inquired about also offering leadership sessions.

Future workshops will be offered in November during the school day and on a Saturday in February.

While the skills will help guide them to lead clubs, Sherwin said teaching students to set goals, brainstorm effectively and come up with solutions will be applied all their lives.

"Stevenson is teaching the future leaders of the world," he said.