IVCCs first group of students has been trained and certified as effective leaders.
Sandy Beard, Melanie Duggan, Jennifer Ebker, Crystal Fulara and Jackie Stevenson completed LDS 1000: Leadership Development at mid-semester.
The three-hour course, sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa, is designed to help students identify and develop their leadership potential.
"If we can do that, then we've enriched their lives and helped enable them to make a positive difference in their communities," said instructor Kirk Lockwood.
Jill Urban-Bollis, who team teaches the course with Lockwood, said "through the activities, students are able to recognize things in themselves and others they were not aware of before."
For the class, the students read contemporary articles and works from classical philosophy and literature on leadership, view films on leadership themes, present a unit in class, shadow a community leader, plan and carry out a community project, and write reaction papers.
The big project for the class required the students to design, develop, promote and deliver a community service program. The five women decided to work with young people, with each of them focusing on a different group.
Stevenson, who worked with third and fourth graders in a church group, presented an exercise designed to help the young people discover how they measure up as leaders.
"I think they understood that you need to set a good example," she said.
Beard's project was with kindergarten students using Earth Day, April 22, as the topic. She explained that the students are making a recycling box for the school, and, even though they are the youngest students in the school, they understand they are being leaders with this project.
Duggan met with fifth grade girls at Seneca High School who had problems getting along. She presented a lesson designed to develop conflict resolution skills and to stress what good leadership is and why developing leadership skills at their age is important.
"I hope to meet with the girls again to see how they are using those skills," she said.
Fulara presented a lesson to a group of Girl Scouts, which allowed them to earn a Leadership Badge.
Ebker, who plans to be a high school English teacher, worked with a youth group on a communication exercise.
"I learned more about communication than they did," she said, illustrating the self-reflection the course is designed to teach.
"We encourage our students to be active in the classroom and to take responsibility for their own learning," Lockwood said. "Jill Urban-Bollis and I are excited about the success of our students this semester."
Urban-Bollis agreed: "It is hard to image you could see such growth, but we did, and it was an amazing transformation to witness."
From the perspective of the students, the course more than accomplished its goals and met their expectations.
"I have gained so much from this class," said. Fulara. "I started out not necessarily with a closed mind, but I liked my style of leadership and was offended by other's styles. I learned through this class that different styles aren't bad. In fact, having differences can bring more to the group than if we all shared the same opinion."
Beard said she emerged with a better understanding of leadership, and she described the class as an eye-opening experience.
"I always thought of leaders as having certain skills, but not a style," she said. "I plan to look at situations where I have a leadership role and re-evaluate the effectiveness of my leadership."
Duggan, who plans to be an elementary school teacher and eventually a principal, said she looks forward to teaching her students the importance of leadership skills.
"I feel I have gained a better sense of who I am in terms of my personality, characteristics, traits, and leadership style," she said. "I plan to use the new information about myself to help understand the individuality of others."
Encouraging other students to enroll, Ebker agreed saying "you'll learn a lot about yourself."
Then she added: "Be ready for an action packed eight-week challenge."
The course will be offered in the fall, on Tuesdays and Thursday from 12:30 to 3 p.m. for eight weeks.
The course does transfer as an elective to some Illinois universities. Since the course is relatively new, Lockwood said its transfer status would be in flux for some time.
Although it is sponsored by PTK, it is open to all students.
PTK is an international honor society for two-year schools that recognizes scholarship, service, fellowship and leadership. PTK sponsors the course, Lockwood said, "because PTK believes our society needs to develop its future leaders in a purposeful and focused manner."
Lockwood, who teaches English and is a PTK advisor, and Urban-Bollis, who teaches psychology, were selected by college administrators to attend training to teach the course.
Lockwood said: "In the process of completing this training, I was sold on what the class is trying to accomplish."
Urban-Bollis has a Multicultural Educational leadership Certificate from Sangamon State University and has attended the PTK refresher course.
"After I was trained to teach this course, I was hooked," she said.