Feature Friday: Nipmuc's Five Blackstone Valley Youth Leadership Graduates

BVYLA Graduates (L-R) Rebecca Rausch, Kristina Dubois,
Abigail Colombo, Gabrielle Diodati, and Will Applegate

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Blackstone Valley Youth Leadership Academy's (BVYLA) graduation ceremonies. The BVYLA is a program offered by the Blackstone Valley Education Foundation that provides leadership training in a 40-hour program that meets throughout the course of the school year. This year Nipmuc was fortunate to have five members of the 2014 BVYLA cohort. The students completed the program, receiving training in areas of goal-setting, managing and marketing strategies, peer review, civic engagement, and presentation. In addition, each student completed an extensive public service project. The five members of this program representing Nipmuc include: William Applegate, Abigail Colombo, Gabrielle Diodati, Kristina Dubois, and Rebecca Rausch. For this week's feature, I had the chance to ask the students about their experience in the program. Their thoughts about this leadership experience are included below: 

Will Applegate
Q: How has the Blackstone Valley Youth Leadership Academy improved your ability as a leader?
A: I joined the Blackstone Valley Youth Leadership Academy because I wanted to improve my leadership skills.  As I reflect, I think that I have gained a lot of important knowledge regarding leadership through this program.  I learned a great deal about how to to make a good impression through appearance and how to conduct myself at formal meetings such as interviews and public speeches.  I also believe that this academy has improved the way I make important decisions and how I go through the decision making process.  My planning, teamwork, and cooperation skills have also improved as a result of our lessons.  I now have a greater understanding of how I learn best and of my own personality.  I am convinced that my time with this program has given me tools for success as an effective leader.

Q: What are some of the most memorable moments from your participation in this year-long program?

A: This program has given me some memorable experiences.  I remember the team building exercise that we did at the first meeting, which was a contest to see which group could build the tallest and sturdiest tower using a limited amount of supplies.  Many other fun activities similar to this are memorable to me, such as the "human knot" game, because they helped improve my communication and problem solving skills.  I believe the most memorable part of the program was the community service project, because I put in a lot of effort and was very satisfied with the result of my project.  I am sure that I will remember my experiences in this program for many years to come.

Abigail Colombo 

Q: How has the Blackstone Valley Youth Leadership Academy improved your ability as a leader?

A: Through my experience in the Blackstone Valley Youth Leadership Academy, I've noticed my leadership abilities have strengthened. Before I was a part of this organization, I never had run a project of my own or led a group of people. This experience allowed me to take the initiative in conducting a project.  Now that I have been a true leader in a community service project, I feel my leadership abilities are stronger than ever. Next time I have to lead a project, I will be more confident in my abilities knowing I have had a positive and successful experience.

Q: What are some of the most memorable moments from your participation in this year-long program?

A: My experience in the year-long program was nothing but positive. For me, my favorite part was meeting new teenagers from surrounding towns.  Being from a small school system, it was fun to get to meet other kids who shared similar interests as me.  It was also enjoyable to get to travel to different locations around the Blackstone Valley and become more familiar with my community.  My favorite location that we went to was the River Bend Farm in Uxbridge during the fall.  We were able to walk around and appreciate the beautiful landscape/scenery.

Gabrielle Diodati

Q: How has the Blackstone Valley Youth Leadership Academy improved your ability as a leader?

A: It was a great opportunity and I am glad I was able to be a part of it. To answer your first question I would have to say yes! It definitely has improved my ability as a leader. In the beginning I had a vague idea of what being a leader meant. But through this Academy I was able to find what qualities I as a leader could bring to the table and areas I could improve. It helped me to learn new techniques that will help me become a better leader. 

Q: What are some of the most memorable moments from your participation in this year-long program?

A: I would say some of the most memorable moments I had were being able to collaborate with other students from surrounding towns and bounce ideas off of one another. Hearing everyones ideas and the way they are going to help out the community was very appealing. You could see all the hard work these students were putting in. I also loved the tools we used to find out what type of leader we were. We used these tests to help us get a better understanding of what were our strong assets and maybe what weren't. And I have to say using the techniques helped a ton and made me want to fix the ways in which I could improve.

 

Kristina Dubois
Q: How has the Blackstone Valley Youth Leadership Academy improved your ability as a leader?
A: During the first few classes of BVYLA, we discussed as a group the positive qualities that a leader must have and the responsibility it takes to be a successful leader. After hearing other classmate’s opinions on what these qualities were, I realized that many of them were traits that I had already developed but had not been focusing on. Some of these included being outgoing enough to interact with others, having good listening skills, and being organized. By completing several activities, I was able to focus on these characteristics and use them to my advantage. I found that it became easier for me to step up as a leader not only during BVYLA classes but also in school and other situations I was confronted with.

Q: What are some of the most memorable moments from your participation in this year-long program?

A: Some of the most memorable moments from BVYLA came about during our class discussions about what our plans were for our projects. Each week, we all shared any changes in our project along with problems we were facing and provided one another with constructive criticism. Many of the challenges I faced were solved by advice given to me by my BVYLA classmates. My other most memorable memories include several of the games we played where working together was essential. I really enjoyed meeting students from other towns and getting to know them through fun activities.

Rebecca Rausch

Q: How has the Blackstone Valley Youth Leadership Academy improved your ability as a leader?

A: BVYLA has taught me important qualities needed to be a successful leader.  I have learned to be much more confident while speaking in front of a large group and how to take charge when no one else will.  Also I learned how to communicate with many people who might be shy or do not want to speak up which will help me a lot in my future.

Q: What are some of the most memorable moments from your participation in this year-long program?

A: One of my favorite memories of this program is the first day we met.  We were all very shy and felt uncomfortable; but then we did an icebreaker where we had to build a structure as a team and whichever was tallest won. It was really funny seeing the different structures and many of them collapsed. After that we all got to know each other and had a lot of fun.

Congratulations to our students for their completion of this great program.