Medaille College will host the “Leaders in Training” Summer Program for over one hundred Buffalo public school students over the course of five weeks. This leadership and life skill development program is run by Western New York United Against Drug & Alcohol Abuse, Inc., and offers selected rising eighth grade students the opportunity to participate in conferences, a summer program, retreats, and many school-based activities.
“We are very excited to be bringing our Leaders In Training summer program to a college campus for the first time,” says WNY United Program Director Beth Anzalone. “Exposing these students to this environment while they go through the curriculum we have planned for them will be very powerful. These students need to see what could be in their futures if they take advantage of the opportunities that are there for them.”
Teams of students from twelve different Buffalo public schools will come together each day to work on a variety of academic and skill-building activities under the supervision of WNY United staff.
Every student will participate in “True Colors,” a personality assessment tool that will help them to discover special traits about themselves and appreciate the different strengths of their classmates. The students will also work together on a curriculum called “Build A Business” in which they will take a fictitious new business venture through the concept, design, and marketing phases. English/Language Arts and Math will be taught each day to help bolster student performance in those subject areas.
“The Leaders In Training program is a great opportunity for children in the Buffalo Public Schools and Medaille is excited to be a part of the program,” offers Michelle Cefaratti, visiting instructor in the School of Education at Medaille College. “We look forward to the LIT students working with our graduate students in our Reading Center and being on the campus.”
The goals of the summer program are to help the LIT students to increase academic performance, improve individual pro-social skills like communication and decision-making, and help them work together as a team with the other students. Focusing on these three areas in the summer increases the chance of success with the ambitious community service projects and other challenges that await them later in the LIT process. WNY United is collaborating with PreventionFocus of Western New York and the Medaille College Reading Center to implement the program.
WNY United Against Drug & Alcohol Abuse, Inc. is a grass roots initiative designed to increase awareness, educate, and mobilize area residents to participate actively in proven strategies to prevent substance abuse