High school, college leaders meet on campus

The Wisconsin Alumni Student Board (WASB) will sponsor Leadership Retreat 2003 on Friday, March 7, at the Pyle Center and the Memorial Union.

Created last year, this event gathers high school and college leaders to define leadership, understand diverse leadership styles, develop strengths and showcase leadership abilities. The event is designed to facilitate the use of these learned skills in future leadership endeavors.

About 400 high school leaders and advisers from 37 schools in southern Wisconsin have been invited to participate. These leaders are selected by guidance counselors at their high schools based on their exhibition of leadership skills and potential. Throughout the day, high school leaders will meet in small groups and talk with students from other high schools about their leadership experiences. They will also participate in breakout sessions on topics ranging from “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” to “Motivation: What Drives You?”

“Getting involved with kids from our own high schools is such a unique opportunity,” says Jamie Chadek, WASB president and breakout session leader. “We get to share our advanced leadership experiences with a younger generation. Hopefully they can benefit from that and share it with other kids at their high schools before they graduate.”

The keynote speaker for the event will be Andrew Thibodeau, a young entrepreneur known for his very distinctive presentation style. Through his special brand of humor and true-life stories, Thibodeau delivers a message with which audience members can relate. This message is complemented by his experiences as a leader in high school and college, as a director of youth camps and as a successful entrepreneur traveling North America.

WASB is a non-profit student organization sponsored by the WAA with a focus on linking students past, present and future.