Shown are members of the Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy who attended the November meeting on leadership and team building. In front, from left are Lucas Conley, Warsaw Community High School; Ben McFarland, Triton Junior-Senior High School; Nevaeh Lowe, Lakeland Christian Academy; Ellie Schenck, Warsaw Community High School; Kohen Schipper, Whitko High School; and Tobe Forshtay, president and chief belief officer of Dream Again Life Coaching. In back: Noah Macias and Luke Kompagne, Wawasee High School. Photo provided by Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy.

News Release

WARSAW — The Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy held its November meeting at Creighton’s meeting room, The Roost. The theme for the session was Leadership and Team Building.

KYLA Board member, Alyx Bates, opened the session by welcoming the students. Miriel McFarland, board member, spoke on communication being a very important quality for a good leader. McFarland led the students in an interactive activity that demonstrated the importance of clear and precise communication.

Guest speaker, Tobe Forshtay, president and chief belief officer of Dream Again Life Coaching, began his presentation by stating leaders need to learn from their experiences, both good and bad.

A big part of leadership is how you interact with others. Making a good first impression is important and Forshtay listed the following attributes as something to strive for: confident, authentic, relevant, vulnerable, positive, sharp and brief.

Those in attendance were able to practice presenting their story by speaking about their activities, passions and future plans. He encouraged everyone to be confident in their story.

In small groups, the students discussed both good and bad characteristics of a leader. An important quality of leadership is having a good character which can be built up by having good thoughts and actions and by developing good habits.

Forshtay referenced one of his favorite leadership books, The Way of the Shepherd, by Kevin Leman and William Pentak, that includes guidance on how to lead like a shepherd.

He closed his presentation by challenging the students to be assertive, truthful and open to others that may have constructive criticism to help develop them into a great leader.

For the remainder of the session, the students worked in their Project Proud groups and continued their brainstorming and planning process.

The December meeting will be at Parkview Warsaw where the students will learn about orthopedics and health care in Kosciusko County.