Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Neville, Backaus, Opelt, Subke, Kreitlow, Zoschke, Koepp, Anderson-Ruskin, Koprek, Hemp, Marine, Herricks, Ziebell, McDonald, Rose, King, Luchterhand
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 11/09/2022
Teens Lead The Way at Summit (2022)
By Edward DuBois
The Rural Virtual Academy (RVA) sponsored the first Leadership Summit at their learning center Oct. 20 in Mosinee. More than 100 middle and high school students from the region were invited to attend. Students were challenged to define their own Leadership Purpose Statement and think about what it takes to be a leader. The students also participated in team building and icebreaker activities and leadership challenges.
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The day culminated with a “Teens in Action” activity, which asked the students to address a social issue prevalent in today’s world, think of ways to address the issue presented to them and then share it with the group.
The crew from Neillsville was comprised of middle and high school students. The high school group was the Teen Leadership Council.
The Neillsville High School group, comprised of (front l-r) Paris Opelt, Eliana Subke, (back) Max Kreitlow, Micah Zoschke, Abigail Koepp, Addison Anderson-Ruskin and Olivia Koprek, were the Teen Leadership Council.
Two groups of Neillsville students participated in the Rural Virtual Academy-sponsored Leadership Summit. Pictured for the middle school. Students are (front, l-r) Jackson Hemp, Adelyn Marine, Scotlyn Herricks, (back) Micah Ziebell, Skyler McDonald, Mary Rose, Liam King and Marcus Luchterhand. Submitted photos
“They are students who applied for membership at the end of last year and are currently juniors who take the lead in mentoring our eighth graders as they prepare for high school,” explained Jill Neville, teacher and chaperone for the summit.
Each month, they join Mrs. Neville and Mrs. Backaus in facilitating activities during guidance lessons and teaches lessons on different topics. The group has existed in Neillsville for close to eight years.
The middle school group was made up of members of the Neillsville Middle School Student Council and FOR Club (Friends of Rachel).
“All these students display amazing potential to lead their classmates to creating a positive culture within our school,” Neville said.
Each student was asked to come up with his or her own purpose statement. They were asked to think about what makes them “tick.” Some students listed passion for a topic, social injustice, love of learning or creativity.
The issue the middle school students were presented with was how to address dangers of vaping and smoking in youth throughout the U.S. Students brainstormed and researched ideas and facts, then created a short, recorded public service announcement submitted to the summit leaders. After all the projects were submitted, some of the best were recognized for their work.
As with every new situation, it took the students a while to warm up.
“After the initial stepping outside their comfort zones, the students enjoyed the day and have already asked if they could attend the next summit offered later this year,” Neville said.”
