At Hastings High there is a group known as FMP – the Freshman Mentoring Program. This group is for juniors and seniors to aid freshman through their first year of high school. With the upperclassmen being mentors and the freshman being mentees, the Activities Review Committee decided that they wanted to do something with the sophomores at HHS.
“We felt we weren’t doing much with our sophomores so we thought it was necessary to keep things moving forward,” “leadership” class leader Pete Theoharis said.
The group became known as Leadership Class. Sophomores are nominated by coaches and sponsors at the high school to meet during a common lunch period for a semester to better their leadership abilities.
“We thought it was a class that needed to happen to help these sophomores who coaches and sponsors believe have leadership skills to use those in the best way,” Theoharis said.
The students selected should expect to learn a variety of lessons to become better leaders.
“We work on communication, being creative, using their intellect more, and the best ways to be effective leaders. We try to make them more involved in their communities and their school,” Theoharis said, “We want them to have more of a tie to Hastings High and feel like they can positively impact what goes on here.”
One student, Ryker Van Brocklin was chosen for the class in 2016. Van Brocklin learned how to apply the skills he learned to everyday life and the difference positivity can make.
“I can apply what I learned by taking all of the skills that I have gained throughout the class, and trying to use them to become a more effective leader,” Van Brocklin said, “It will help me improve my life as well as improve the people who I am around.”
Leadership class has impacted the sophomores and the people around them. Theoharis continues to see changes in the students.
“We hope that the climate continues to change for the better and better at Hastings High. The students in Leadership Class can help drive that,” Theoharis said, “We tell them that they can make changes and they have made changes already at Hastings High.”
