Seven Columbia College students are volunteering their time and enthusiasm to help girls at Chapin Middle School

Seven Columbia College students are volunteering their time and enthusiasm to help girls at Chapin Middle School develop their leadership skills. Too many young women in the US stop developing their leadership skills in middle school. Girls are less likely to voice their opinions; more likely to go along with the crowd; less likely to follow their dreams; and are more likely to worry about whether they are popular than whether they are effective.
To address this distressing trend, speech-language pathology majors, Allison Boyer, Mikael Hess, Danielle Johnson, Lizbet Kloot, Ana Nazario-Tapia, Hope Stayman and Carolyn Turbeville, are assisting Dr. Linda Salane and Dr. Leigh Ann Spell in a leadership certificate program that teaches girls how to describe their specific leadership gifts, to be effective problem solvers and to make a difference in their school and community. This program is based on the 4 C’s model emphasizing courage, commitment, confidence and competence. The group meets bright and early every Friday morning from 7:30-8:15 a.m. at Chapin Middle School where the Columbia College students serve as wonderful role models for the girls. Activities are fun and interactive and all participants learn many things including one of the important messages from the program: “Leadership is not the position you hold but the difference you make.”