By Claudia L. Farias, Student Activities Department

Thirty-six Hidalgo County high school juniors and seniors were officially certified as student leaders at STC's Learning to Lead Program's inaugural graduation ceremony on Tuesday, Aug. 1 held at the college's Pecan Campus. The Learning to Lead Program is a four-week interactive summer course focusing on cultivating the leadership abilities of prominent high school juniors and seniors. Graduation from the program requires a student's attendance and participation at four of six leadership workshops. Additionally, the program requires attendance at the Learning to Lead Service Fair, a day dedicated to serving local non-profit organizations. This year's activities benefited the Comfort House of McAllen, the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley and the American Cancer Society.

Because the program was offered at STC's Pecan Campus and the Mid-Valley Campus, the inaugural class had students from all over the Hidalgo County area - from Mercedes High School to Hidalgo High School.

"This program demonstrated the commitment STC has made to educate and train our future leaders," said Adele Clinton, a program facilitator at the Mid-Valley Campus. "The Program is a mini-version of a leadership program we already have in place at the college and we were happy to offer this to our young, up-and-coming leaders."

Six workshops were presented at both campuses, including "Leadership and Diversity," "Civic Leadership" and "Communicating with a Team."

"We know the participants in the program will take what they learned here and apply it to their future leadership positions," Clinton added. "We at STC are proud to have taught them those first principles of leadership."

Two graduates, one from each campus, exhibited leadership skills throughout the summer and were the first recipients of the program's "Outstanding Leadership Awards." Eight graduates also received "Dedication Awards" for attending all six leadership workshops.

"The Learning to Lead Program will help students become more confident and secure in their roles as a student, leader and active member of our community," said Crissy Garcia, a program facilitator at the Pecan Campus.

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