A pair of Houston High School students recently attended the 13th annual Leadership In Practice program in Mexico, Mo.
Curry Van Horn and Elizabeth Hayes were sponsored to the program by the Houston Area Chamber of Commerce.
Leadership In Practice is a three-day program cosponsored by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals. The program gives high school sophomores the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities, simulations and discussions designed to develop their leadership skills.
Working in small groups, the students learned about the characteristics of great leaders and developed their own set of goals based on the characteristics they thought were vital to their development as a leader.
The students also developed a leadership code of ethics, based on the community values, they felt were critical to doing the right thing as a leader and also learned about economic leadership (entrepreneurship) by developing a business plan for a new product or service. Another activity was a personality profile exercise called “true colors,” which helped the students discover the strengths of their own personality, as well as the importance of diverse personalities in a group.
Leadership in Practice is part of a youth leadership educational program that was created by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce in 1962. It is funded through scholarships provided by Missouri businesses and civic organizations.