Pictured in no particular order are North Adams’ Alyssa Mays, North Adams’ Calee Campbell, West Union’s Dakota Pell, West Union’s Derrick Pell, North Adams’ Morgan Shupert, Adams County Christian School’s Emma Mason, North Adams’ Jacob Campbell, Peebles’ Alan McCoy, and Church 180 Pastor Michael Parks.
Jacob Campbell, 17, receives his certificate of graduation from Leadership Adams President Mike Pell.
Carrington McGlothin, 17, receives her certificate of graduation from Leadership Adams President Mike Pell.
By Ashley McCarty
People’s Defender
Nine student applicants from the Adams County Ohio Valley School District have been accepted for Leadership Adams.
Founded in 2010, Leadership Adams is a non-profit community service leadership development organization serving Adams County, Ohio.
The mission of Leadership Adams is “to improve the quality of life for all who live and work in Adams County by developing and preparing individuals to assume leadership responsibilities in their communities and organizations. The vision is to create a well-informed, civically active community where individuals are able to influence the prosperity of the Adams County community through their strong leadership and their interest in building the future.”
The program highlights focused leadership instruction, the linkage between leadership and application in the field and continuing education credit with an option for transcript credit.
Students have met various leaders, such as Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, visited government offices, businesses, historical sites, the hospital and several farms. Next May, they will also be visiting the state capitol.
Senior Carrington McGlothin, 17, will be representing Peebles High School as the program progresses into the coming year.
“I was excited [to be accepted]. I knew it was a great opportunity. I knew a couple of people that have gone through it, and they said it was a good life-changing experience. We’ve visited multiple places and businesses and got to talk to the owners and know how everything worked. It really helped with my networking,” said McGlothin.
One of her favorite experiences so far has been visiting a historical piece of Ohio.
“[We visited] one of the oldest buildings in Ohio. Unfortunately, it had fallen down and this was the final year they thought they were going to show it; however, they’re going to try and preserve that. It was really cool that I got to be a part of that,” said Mcglothin.
McGlothin is hopeful this opportunity will expand her career options.
“I’m very thankful for the opportunity to be in the program. It really helped with my life skills, and getting to know what a real leader is,” she said.
17-year-old Senior Emma Mason from the Adams County Christian School was excited albeit a bit nervous about joining the program.
“But, I figured that there would be a lot of opportunities and learning experiences. I was excited about being able to do it. We’ve gotten to meet a lot of leaders throughout the county, both in business and politics. It was very cool to see them thriving in their position and to see how they got there. We’ve also gotten to see a lot of historical sites and learn the history of our county,” said Mason.
So far, visiting with the various community leaders has been her favorite experience.
“Getting to see the leaders being successful and doing something that they love was really awesome. For them to show an interest in us and care about our success was really cool,” she said.
She’s learned a lot so far, and going forward, she would like to learn how to be a leader to more effectively serve her county and help others.
“It’s been a great experience, and I highly recommend it. It’s definitely worth it,” she said.
Senior Jacob Campbell, 17, from North Adams High School, admits to being a little skeptical at first.
“I honestly thought that it seemed kind of boring at first, but getting the overall experience was really good for me, especially with my future career plans. We ended up going to a lot of different places all across the county. We got to take a hiking trip, we’ve been to Raines Farm, we’ve gone to Family Traditions Animal Adventure. We also went to a few different places that, behind the scenes, they’ve just done a bunch for the county,” said Campbell.
It was awesome to see everything they’ve done, he said.
“It was also really cool to see how humble they were about it. They weren’t boastful, just really kind-hearted people. It was really cool to see all of the things that go on in Adams County that help everything in Ohio,” said Campbell.
The portion of the program he’s enjoyed the most so far was the lessons received from Executive Director and Pastor Mike Parks.
“He gave me a book by John Maxwell that was the foundation for Leadership Adams, and those lessons were based on his book. It was awesome to learn all of those things. It was very interesting,” said Campbell.
Campbell aspires to go into ministry and hopes to take these foundational skills with him.
“I’m hoping to take these leadership skills and use them to my advantage. I want to use them to talk to others easier and lead others how I would want to be led. If anybody was to be selected for Leadership Adams, I highly suggest jumping into it. Don’t be skeptical as I was. If an opportunity like this comes up, go for it. Just jump,” said Campbell.
The remaining students accepted into the program were North Adams’ Alyssa Mays, North Adams’ Calee Campbell, West Union’s Dakota Pell, West Union’s Derrick Pell, North Adams’ Morgan Shupert and Peebles’ Alan McCoy.
“It is an honor to work with these amazing young people and sow into their lives. It is awesome to watch the “lights turn on” as you teach them the power of their potential,” said Parks.
