Polk County high school students have been nominated by their school principals to participate in an exciting new UthMpact Leadership Program, spearheaded by InnerAct Alliance, StandUP Polk Coalition, and key community leaders, to help teens develop crucial leadership skills. The agenda includes 6 days from September 2011 - March 2012, on which the youth leaders will travel throughout Polk County experiencing the inner workings of local government, health care, education, and law enforcement. They will meet with community leaders, discuss challenges, and recommend solutions for issues that face us now and in the future.The first UthMpact Leadership Day was held on September 28th as students from 11 different high schools embarked on Health & Wellness Leadership Day. Three of the youth representatives - Tashana Hazelwood, a junior at Lakeland High School; Cody Gill, a senior at Lake Region High School; and Taylor Jones, a junior at Lake Gibson High School, shared some insight to their experience with us:
Twenty-nine students were excused from regular school classes on September 28th to participate in UthMpact Leadership’s Health & Wellness Day. We had a rare opportunity to experience a typical day in the life of medical professionals who serve in our community.
Our first stop was at Lake Eva Park, where we met the Gordon Broadhead, the Recreation Supervisor for Haines City Parks & Recreation Department. He took us on a tour of Lake Eva Park, where we learned about its history. We also met with Carolyn Jackson, Senior VP of Member Relations of the Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce, who had us take a DISC personality test to learn which characteristic was most dominant in our personality. DISC is an acronym for the different personality types: D – dominance; I – influence; S- steadiness/submission; and C – compliance/caution. The test was fun and also helped provide us understand one another better, and even learn something about ourselves that we might not have known about previously. Afterwards, we participated in a water tower activity involving balloons and spaghetti strings that was a lot of fun!
Next on the agenda was a meeting and tour of the facility at Lakeland Regional Medical Center. We had lunch with Jeff Payne, Vice President of Human Resources Services at LRMC, who explained about the hospital’s history and operations, and took us on a tour of a few sections of the hospital including the laundry department, emergency room trauma, pharmacy, and lab. Before moving from the hospital to the Sheriff’s Office for our general meeting, we stopped for a well-deserved ice cream break. It was a great first day, and we’ve learned that we all are anxious for more hands-on activities and ice cream!
Other theme days for future months include: Law Enforcement Leadership Day (October 26); Volunteer Leadership Day (November 30); Education Leadership Day (January 25); Government Leadership Day (February 22); Business Leadership Day (March 28); and Leadership Graduation (April 25th). At the end of each Leadership Day, the UthMpact teens gather at a General Meeting, beginning at 5:30 pm, at the Sheriff’s Office, located at 1819 Jim Keene Blvd., in Winter Haven. The meeting is open to any middle or high school student who may be interested in attending.
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