GYLI

As one odyssey ended, another had just begun, but the long history of Messmer leadership now continues in a global fashion. This past summer marked the third year that Messmer High School students participated in the Global Youth Leadership Program. Arturo Maldonado, Gregory Bates and Isaiah Jordon explored leadership through their community while Lamel Adkins and Jasmine Porter examined their role in our ever-growing global community.

Arturo, Gregory and Isaiah, accompanied by Chad Griesel, started their odyssey in Boston as they learned to sail the freedom schooner Lettie G. All navigation, sailing, and other naval chores were executed by the these young gentlemen and the crew of other fourteen to fifteen year olds who had gathered from around our nation to participate in this experiential learning community.

These gentlemen will be continuing on to the Lama Center in New Mexico next summer where they will study the leadership within themselves from a Native American perspective with the guidance of Larry Littlebird. Other internal challenges that await these voyagers are mountain climbing, a five hour no technology solo reflection time, and building an authentic Native American lodge.

Lamel and Jasmine, who had attended the previous two institutes with DeOndrea Talley, completed their training in Costa Rica accompanied by Gail Burkel. There they worked in cooperation with the Earth University learning green methods of agriculture and ranching. The lessons on campus were then transferred to the community as each student was immersed in a home stay and participated in everyday rural life. In addition, the entire team of students completed service work at a local school helping them paint their facility, interacting with the students, and bringing much needed school supplies, books and pillows for their limited but growing library. Their final celebration was a day of white water rafting.

All GYLI programs are experiential, hands-on, and transformative. Participants are immersed—both students and adult—into experiences of pluralism based on religion, class, gender, age, cultural background, sexual orientation, and ability. Students and faculty then develop and revise their leader learning plans, plans that will be implemented in their home schools during the following school year. Such plans at Messmer High School have included student lead instructions of cultural acceptance at the annual MHS freshman retreat and Multicultural Assemblies complete with food tasting and dancing.

For more information on the Global Youth Leadership Institute, please visit www.gyli.org or see Ms. Burkel in room 101.