The 2018-19 Leadership St. Clair County (LSCC) class wanted to share their experience and extend the lessons they learned during their tenure in Leadership to a new generation.

Each year, the LSCC class participates in a project to better the community in St. Clair County. Projects in the past include building a playground at A Children’s Place, creating the Blue Star Memorial sign on Veterans Pkwy in Pell City, creating new branding for St. Clair County, and establishing the “Legacy of Leadership” scholarship, which provides a full two-year tuition to Jefferson State Community College.

This year, members of LSCC created the St. Clair County Leadership Summit, inviting students from St. Clair County schools to participate. Approximately 251 students from 7-11 grades, 10 from each grade level in each St. Clair County middle and high school, were chosen to represent their school.

Students applied to be a participant and were chosen by teachers and school counselors.

“Our theme is ‘Building CommUNITY’,” said Leadership project leader Christy Ellard. “We want to build unity between our schools.”

Students attended a program at the Moody Civic Center, where they participated in team games, a scavenger hunt, and listened to speakers such as St. Clair County School Superintendent Mike Howard, Faith Community Church Student Pastor Matt Legg, and former UAB football player Tim Alexander delivering inspiring talks on leadership.

Faith Community Church Student Pastor Matt Legg, spoke about the importance of being a leader and how to L.E.A.D.

“Leaders are learners…leaders are encouragers…leaders add value…and leaders are dependable,” Legg told the students.

“Faith Community Fellowship Pastor Mike Ennis [Springville] said ‘We tell kids we want them to be leaders but we don’t show them how’,” St. Clair County School Superintendent Mike Howard shared. “We want to show students how to be leaders and make this sustainable for years to come.”

LSCC member Brandon Turner lead the fundraising efforts, helping to raise over $15,000 for the new program, enabling them to pay for buses so the schools wouldn’t bear any of the cost. They also supplied lunches and speakers for the Leadership Summit, and have some funds remaining for next year.

As part of the Leadership Summit, students will choose, organize and complete their own community project. Groups from each school will complete their own projects in their community and then all 251 students will return to share their completed projects in April.

“We want the students to work together and give them something they can take ownership of,” said Christy Ellard.

Representatives from LSCC will go to the local schools to check on the student’s progress in a few months.

“All groups can come together to do something big for their communities,” said Mike Howard. “We wanted them to come up with their own ideas and take ownership. I am so grateful for everyone coming together to make our students better.”

Howard said that as St. Clair County School Superintendent, he hopes to continue this program for students in the future.

“With choosing different grade levels, in a few years we will have several students that have gone through the program,” Howard said. “We want to continue to get new faces each year.”

Beginning as a partnership between the St. Clair County Commission, Jefferson State Community College, and the St. Clair County Economic Development Council in 2007, the Leadership St. Clair program seeks to equip leaders with knowledge, skill, and a better understanding of leadership in the local communities. They also focus on increasing awareness of problems and concerns in the community and local assets by working in teams to get hands-on experience and creating strategies for becoming more involved in the local community.

The mission statement of Leadership St. Clair County is to “give established leaders across St. Clair County exposure to the broader fabric of the county. It will develop a network of relationships and provide a structure for this network to seek mutual understanding of problems and priorities for St. Clair County’s future. Leadership St. Clair will encourage its members to act, individually and in concert, to move St. Clair County forward to help our county reach its full potential.”