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Workshop pushes kids' involvement in community

Angela Burd conducts a “Character and Leadership Workshop” sponsored by the National High School Coaches Association at Uniontown Area Senior High School on Thursday. Dave Rafferty/Herald-Standard

Getting and keeping kids involved in their communities was the theme of a workshop held Thursday in the auditorium at Uniontown High School. The Character and Leadership Workshop brought together athletes, coaches, teachers administrators and parents from five area school districts. The workshop was one in a series of events staged in a cooperative effort between the Pennsylvania National Guard and the National High School Coaches Association. Angela Burd of Latrobe is Director of Educational Outreach for both organizations and conducted the workshop.

"It's a new project this school year," Burd said. "This is the third school I have visited to present our program and we're pretty excited about it so far. The National Guard was looking for a way to give back to the community and they got involved with the NHSCA, which had similar ambitions." The hands-on program had athletes from Uniontown, Laurel Highlands, Albert Gallatin, Connellsville and Ringgold involved in many facets of community involvement because each group was asked to identify what it perceived to be a problem worth fixing in their respective community.

It started at a very basic level, asking each of the participants to distinguish "givers" from "takers" and defining the roles of each in defining leadership. From that humble beginning, each small group began formulating worksheets designed to help complete a project.

While the projects were not doled out as assignments, they were used as a guide to assist the participants in working through any project they may undertake. Most area high schools require all graduating seniors to complete a "senior project," for example and this program could prove quite valuable in completing those tasks. "Ideally, at the end of the day, each of the groups will have a project to work on that they thought up on their own," Burd said. "Our goal is to give them a guide to follow, to help them go through all of the proper channels to get the project completed."

She noted that neither the coaches group nor the National Guard wanted to hand out project assignments, but rather encourages the participants to devise their own. "If they need help with any of their projects, the National Guard has someone in place in all of the high schools to help them," Burd said. In addressing the crowd, Burd summed up the general intent of the program.

"The purpose of this program is for you to spread the word, to find people like you to be team leaders," she said. "Get them involved in your projects." A similar program, sponsored by the Bentworth School District, will be held Monday at California University of Pennsylvania.