leadership 402 portfolio · web view2015. chrystina lightfoot. lansing project unify: special...

Chrystina Lightfoot

Lansing Project UNIFY: Special Olympics

2015Leadership 402 Portfolio

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Table of ContentsSection 1: Goals and Action Plan………………………...……page 3Section 2: Introduction……………………………………………..page 7Section 3: Leadership Connection…………………….…….page 13Section 4: Weekly Written Reflections……………………page 17Section 5: Evaluation……………………………………………....page 32Section 6: Final Reflection…………...………………………….page 35Section 7: Epilogue…………………………………………………page 40Section 8: LDR 402 Feedback…………………………….……page 42

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Section 9: Appendix……………………………………..…………page 44

Section 1: Goals and Action Plan

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Goal Number 1: In order to improve my facilitation skills, I will complete the training session for Special Olympics Michigan Unify Event in Lansing for the Leadership Institute here at Central Michigan University.

Action Plan 1: I will scout potential volunteers through an application process that can be submitted online to find the best volunteers for this opportunity. I want to be able to bring the most versatile and respectful volunteers to the SOMI Unify Event to create a more genuine experience for the students involved in the event.

Action Plan 2: I will meet regularly with my Site Coordinator of the Leadership Institute to develop a detailed description of what we want our potential volunteers to know for the training session. Within these meetings we will generate ideas and accommodations for those who may need them during the events.

Action Plan 3: After choosing the volunteers and creating a training manual, I will be coordinating and teaching the volunteers what activities we will be doing for the event and how to facilitate and debrief them properly. Goal Number 2: In order to strengthen my communication skills, I will work with Michael Sobolewski from the Dow College Opportunity Program and generate a program to connect with high school students in the area and allow them to become leaders in their college careers.

Action Plan 1: I will communicate with Michael through email (due to his location). Email can cause misunderstandings so to improve my communication skills I will make sure all ideas and decisions are discussed thoroughly before making any final decisions.

Action Plan 2: As a good communicator I will consider all options and understand the needs of the desired ones than picking my options. I will be interested in feedback and hope that both Michael and Jesi (site coordinator) are willing to help me in this improvement/goal.

Action Plan 3: Creating a safe and welcoming environment for the high school students, this will be expressed through ideas, opinions, and other creative ways in which I will have to be able to communicate freely and listen well to those I’m working with and creating this program for.Goal Number 3: In order to get better at organizational skills, I will make sure I’m completing my goals on time and in an orderly fashion. I will meet with my site supervisor weekly in the Leadership Institute to discuss both projects in fine detail.

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Action Plan 1: To create an outline and “manual” for the training session that allows the volunteers to feel more comfortable and organized for the SOMI Unify Event (The outline will show times, activities, and explanations for all volunteers).

Action Plan 2: My personal goal on being more organized would entail a planner that I would right down meeting times, emails, and other information that needed to be completed. This will help my organizational skills tremendously.

Action Plan 3: To build effectiveness within the group of people I will be working with. I will be working with several different types of people from all different perspectives. If I can be effective with each individual and make sure I’m professional and still myself, this will allow my organizational skills to improve with each individual.

LDR 402 Site Opportunity OutlineChrystina Lightfoot

Once you have an idea of a site location for LDR 402, please complete and submit to Blackboard for LDR advisor approval.

1. What is your intended site for LDR 402? Leadership Institute here at CMU

2. Do you have a previous relationship with this organization/site? Yes

3. If so, how will your role be different so you can enhance your leadership skills and best support your site? My role as a leader will be much different on this site opportunity for many reasons. The main reason is because usually I’m a LAS student working with others to promote leadership. This time I’m coordinating and practicing leadership skills to those who are not familiar or want to enhance their own skills. I will be taking on more responsibilities and delegating more goals than ever before.

4. What project will you be completing? I will be completing two main projects within the LI. The first will be a Special Olympics UNIFY project where I will be helping to coordinate activities for 600-700 students in the Lansing area. The next project will be working with high school students from the Isabella community in a program that the Dow’s have provided. I will be helping them with implementing a program that still has a lot of structure to build on. It will be a program that will focus on first generation low income students and how to be successful in college.

5. What are some goals/outcomes you are considering? I hope that I will be able to show my leadership skills through the projects I work with. I want to also be able to change these students’ lives in a positive matter with the tools and resources I give them. My large goal is to be able to implement a program for the Dow students that will be able to continue on for many years and being able to say that I helped create this program and put it into action.

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6. Have you considered the hours this will require? What is the intended completion date/timeline? Yes it will take many hours to complete but I will be able to complete them within the time period. My intentions are to complete this by the end of this semester with time to spare but until I start getting things rolling I will not know for sure my completion deadline.

7. Do you have a site supervisor, if so what is his/her role with the organization? Yes, I’m very lucky to work with Jesi Parker here at CMU in the Leadership Institute. Her role as my site supervisor will be giving me advice and resources to help my leadership project go smoothly. Mostly she’s my role model to be able to follow some of her footsteps with the Special Olympics events because she has worked with these types of events many times. She also is there for any questions I might stumble upon throughout the semester.

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Section 2: Introduction

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Exhibit 2: (Section 1 of Portfolio) Student Contact Information

Date: 1/25/15Last Name Lightfoot

First Name Chrystina Middle Shikimi Student No. 562214

Local AddressStreet 1528 S. Mission St.

Apt M33 City Mt. Pleasant State MI Zip 48858

Permanent AddressStreet 1528 S. Mission St.


Summer AddressStreet 1528 S. Mission St.


Telephone NumbersLocal (906)362-1233

Home ( ) -

Work ( ) -

Cell (906)362-1233

Major Sociology/ Criminal JusticeMajor Advisor Justin SmithAre All Courses Completed in the Leadership Minor No, I’m currently in my last LDR classCourses Being Taken This Semester LDR 402Semester for which LDR 402 is planned? Spring Summer Fall YEAR 2015LDR 402 Credit Hours Requested? Three (3) Six (6)Have you arranged a placement site? YES NO If YES, attach a detail description of the proposed site: Leadership Institute here at CMU, within in this site I will be working with Lansing High School Students with the Special Olympics UNFIY team. Also I’ll be working with towns around this area in a program provided by Dow.

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SITE INFORMATION

Name of Organization: Leadership Institute: Special Olympics UNIFY/ Dow College Opportunity Project

Name of Supervisor: Jesi Parker

Email [email protected] Address Powers Hall-CMU City Mt. Pleasant State MI Zip 48858

Contact Person Jesi Parker

Title Assistant Director/Leadership Institute Work (989)774-1909

Home ( ) - FAX ( ) - Cell ( ) -

LDR 402 Type Volunteer Employment Other Site Confirmed with Advisor? NO YES

FROM MONTH/DAY: Feburary YEAR: 2015 TO MONTH/DAY: April YEAR: 2015

Number of hours for which you are scheduled weekly: About 10 hours

SUBMIT THIS PAGE TO BLACKBOARD

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Leadership MinorLETTER OF AGREEMENT

Fill in HIGHLIGHTED AreasThis Letter of Agreement is prepared for and between Central Michigan University’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services Administration, (Chrystina Lightfoot), a student completing curriculum for the LEADERSHIP MINOR , and (Leadership Institute), located at (Powers Hall-Central Michigan University), the placement site at which the student’s academic required experience will take place.The student’s placement experience will be overseen at the site by (Jesi Parker), in the (Leadership Institute), who will be responsible for completing the student’s performance evaluation and for the overall supervision of the student’s practicum. The starting date for the student’s 120-hour practicum placement will be (February 2015) and will conclude (April 2015).The student shall be considered a member of the professional staff and have the accompanying responsibilities and privileges. Although exact hours cannot be established, it is understood that the student must complete a minimum of 120 hours. This may be varied according to the needs of the supervising agency and the opportunities for the student.The student will focus on, and participate in, activities that promote the development of the Leadership Goals and Action Plan listed below. The student may accept additional assignments agreed upon by the site supervisor and Central Michigan University’s academic advisor that shall be designed to strengthen the student’s learning experience.Final grading and evaluation of the student’s practicum will be the responsibility of CMU’s Department of Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Services Administration’s academic advisor after consultation with the site supervisor (and possibly with other representatives of the site at which the practicum took place if the need exists).

(Page 1 of 2 – Leadership Minor: Letter of Agreement)

Cont. Exhibit 2: Letter of Agreement

Introduction

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My 402 project will focus on an opportunity working through Central

Michigan University Leadership Institute. This office functions on only three

full time members. Director, Dan Gaken; Assistant Director Jesi

Parker(Ekonen); and Administrative Assistant, Jeremy Heinlein. With these

three individuals working very hard to host and work many programs they

often find it hard to participate in every opportunity given to them. That is

why they use all the help they can get to rely on all the student volunteers

that help make the Leadership Institute continue in such a positive manner.

Assistant Director Jesi Parker who recently got engaged and now is Jesi

Ekonen gave me the opportunity to work with Special Olympics Project

UNIFY. She unfortunately was so busy with coordinating other leadership

programs that she couldn’t find the time to take on the opportunity to

coordinate this project too. She couldn’t find herself saying no to Special

Olympics so she reached out and asked if I would take on this great

opportunity. The project entails of coordinating a 45 minute block of

leadership activities and games for middle and high school students around

the Lansing district area. Project UNIFY is an opportunity for special

education athletes and general education students to work together and

create a bond that can benefit each other and their communities. If they

work together and except what one they can create a safe and loving

environment in their areas. Another opportunity I was fortunate enough to

receive also was the Dow College Opportunity Program where the help

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financially challenged students become self-sufficient through a college

education mentoring program.

The job responsibilities that went along with these two projects where

to communicate with the outside parties and make sure that all plans where

working effectively (Special Olympics coordinator Anne and Dow COP

director Mike Sobolewski), create games and activities that will engage

Special Olympics athletes and general students to work together, teach

students about leadership and why it’s important, find volunteers, and work

with Phi Beta Sigma to allow the experience for Project UNIFY to expand in

diversity, and many other tasks to make my goals come into reality.

This position is a good fit for LDR 402 because it’s an opportunity to

work with students and helping others to learn more about leadership and

how it’s beneficial in everyone’s life, and it will give me the opportunity for

myself to grow as a leader. Additionally, I’ve never planned an event for 700

students before so it’s reaching outside my comfort zone and learning how

to facilitate and coordinate a large event. This project is based off of

leadership and it’s allowing my leadership practices and skills to be shown

and implemented into new and improved projects.

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Section 3: Leadership Connection

Leadership Connection

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There are many different types of leadership theories and styles. They

all intertwine with one another but they have their own specific vision of

leadership. The two that I would like to focus on is transformational

leadership and servant leadership. Transformational leadership is defined as

a leadership approach that causes change in individuals and social systems

(Kauppi 1). This style of leadership, I believe best explains how I interact and

lead as a leader. I hope that throughout this project I can be a role model

and inspire others to get involved with Special Olympics. I truly believe that I

can change individuals and social systems in a positive matter with this 402

project. With the type of work I’m doing for my projects and the goals I set

for myself I think that it’s very achievable.

Servant leadership is the second type of leadership theory I want to

concentrate on. Servant leadership is a humble approach to leadership in

which the leader puts the needs and wants of the group first (McGovern 77).

To show these two types of approaches in my project I will need to be a role

model for my volunteers, students, and others that may hear or see what I

created for the Lansing community. Like James MacGregor Burns said

“leaders and followers help each other to advance to a higher level of morale

and motivation” (Kauppi 1). I think this is important as a leader because you

need to work as a team to accomplish anything higher than yourself. That is

why through the duration of my project, I will focus on those around me and

what they want. I think that coordinating an event for 700 students will be

challenging. My goal that I wanted to implement within Special Olympics was

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to do something different for the students. Jesi and I came up with the idea

to invite one of the divine nine fraternities here at CMU and bring more

diversity to the table. We contacted Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated

to volunteer with us and create a different type of environment. These

decisions are made to better enhance the quality and diversity for the

students and the volunteers. I think that implementing a change can show a

better understanding of what type of leader you are, and hopefully this will

show within my project.

ReferencesKauppi, Aaron. "Transformational Leadership." Transformational Leadership.

Creative Commons, 13 June 2003. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

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<http://www.langston.edu/sites/default/files/basic-content-files/TransformationalLeadership.pdf>.

McGovern, George S., Donald C. Simmons, and Daniel M. Gaken. Leadership and Service: An Introduction. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Pub., 2008. N. page. Print.

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Section 4: Weekly Written Reflections

Week 1 Reflection (1/15/15-1/22/15)

Going into the semester I had no idea what I wanted to do, all I knew

was I wanted to go big. This is finally the time where I can show off my skills

as a leader. I contacted different people in my field of study and ended up

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with nothing. Then on January 15th, 2015 Jesi Parker emailed me about an

opportunity to work with Special Olympics. She knew I’ve done previous

volunteer opportunities with them and loved it. The second I heard about

this, I knew this is what I wanted to focus on for my project but I wanted

more. The Special Olympics Project UNIFY was going to be my main focus,

but I wanted to expand so Jesi gave me the opportunity to work with the

DOW college opportunity program. This was just so that in case I didn’t reach

enough hours in the first project I had back up, but also I enjoy helping those

who came from the same background as me (low income students trying to

succeed in college). Both opportunities were perfect for me.

So I met with Jesi on Wednesday (21st) and we went over what the

project would entail and gave me some of the contact information that I

needed. I had to email the head coordinator Anne Goudie of Special

Olympics Project UNIFY to let her know who I was and what I wanted to do for

the project. I also was in charge of coordinating the event by myself. Jesi was

very honest and said that she would be my advisor but it was up to me to

make this happen. The event was already scheduled for March 20th so I had a

little over 2 months to plan this. This whole week was just getting the scoop

on what I was getting myself into and start planning on how I was going to

implement these ideas into my project. My goal for the week was just to

contact Anne and see what she wanted and expected from me. This week

was a relief because I finally knew what my 402 project was going to be and I

couldn’t wait to start.

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I started emailing Anne about the project. She was very nice but as of

right now she had no idea what she was doing yet for the event in March.

This was difficult because I always like to make sure I’m right on schedule

with planning events especially as big as this. She informed me that as soon

as she gets more information from all the schools in the district that she

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would let me know. She said as of right now there wasn’t much that I could

do. With that being said I didn’t want to waste a whole week doing nothing

so I started researching different activities that I could use for the event. I

didn’t know what she wanted, so I had many options available. I met with Jesi

again this week to talk about different perspectives and choices we had. She

kept reminding me that these kids are so acceptable and fun to be around

that anything I planned would be terrific. I was getting nervous because I felt

like I had nothing done yet, but it’s only the second week so I needed to keep

reminding myself that.

Within the two weeks I only accomplished about 10 hours of work. That

included meetings with Jesi which consist of 4 ½ hours, three hours

researching different ideas, and 2 ½ hours working on ideas for the DOW

college program. For me I was behind track because my goal in the

beginning was to get 10 hours done a week and I only got 10 hours done in

two weeks. As a leader, I felt like I was being lazy or not studious enough. I’m

hoping next week goes smoother and I start to accomplish much more.


This week was a busy week. I had multiple emails going back and forth

with Anne, Jesi, and Mike. I was starting to get emails every hour. I received

much more from Anne this week, she informed me that there will be 12

schools; approximately 50% will be general education students and the other

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half special education students. The event on March 20th was going to start

from 10am-1pm with a lunch in between. It was going to take place in an

auditorium. We discussed about any audio or visual technology we needed

and that there would be a cordless mic for me to use. This is what I wanted

last week, but as a leader you often need to adapt to others schedules and

be able to be flexible. Which is what I had to do.

From there I started looking up videos and different TED talks I could

use to maybe use for the event as an opening but my ideas were all over the

place still. The theme for this event is “Stand up, Stand strong, Stand

together” which I thought was perfect to tie in with leadership. Everything

started to come together. There was still a lot to do and only several weeks

left. I have a little over a month and half to get this together and that

included to find enough volunteers too!


This week I learned a lot as a leader. My communication skills

improved tremendously with the emails and I’m finding myself to have more

patience with others I’m working with. Because this event has so many

people in it and so many leaders planning their own sections to collaborate

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as one, it’s often hard to communicate efficiently. I found that building a

relationship with those you are working with can make things much easier

and it helps others trust you more in what you’re doing.

I met up with Jesi again on Wednesday at 10am and we discussed what

goals I wanted to accomplish with my 402 project. I came in with a rough

draft and for an hour or so we just focused on perfecting that. After going

into detail on what I wanted to accomplish as a leader and as a good

coordinator we started talking more about the project. We started looking at

old leadership books and binders to see if any creative ideas would spark in

our heads. We also received more news from Anne through email so we

talked about ideas on how we wanted the students to be seated and

placement for them. It was an eventful meeting and I felt more accomplished

than before I walked into Jesi’s office. This project is really testing me on my

communication skills with via email and face to face, which was one of my

goals that I wanted to accomplish. I’m glad that I get to test myself in these

categories.


Planning, Planning, and Planning. We’re about at the half way point

until our event. This week’s focus was to create a google document that

students could fill out to be one of my volunteers. Much planning went into

this google document and actually a lot of time. Jesi and I met again for our

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weekly meeting and brainstormed some questions we could ask for the

application. As a coordinator I wanted to make sure I had the best volunteers

for the job. Working with Special Olympic students you need the right people

who are passionate and love to be there. Also I wanted to make sure my

volunteers were properly trained for the event. This was another goal that I

wanted to focus on as a leader. I needed to start the training manual for the

event but without volunteers I couldn’t start that either.

I started reaching out to the Leader Advancement Scholars here at

CMU, which I’m a part of. I found many people interested which was great

but of course they wanted more information which I couldn’t provide at the

time. My goal for the following week is to have the google document ready

and sent out so that my volunteers can get that day off and plan around

their schedules. I also focused on volunteers that had facilitation experience.

Of course I would take any volunteers that are willing to help but I wanted to

make sure I had a good share of volunteers that have worked with other

Leadership Programs. This seemed beneficial because my project is focused

on leadership and growing as a leader. This would not only improve my

leadership skills but my volunteers too. I’m getting so excited that things are

starting to fall into place.

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I finally finalized the google document and sent out the link to all social

media pages and via email. I also had the help of Jesi to share the document

to anyone she thought would be interested and perfect for the job. We met

up on the 24th and discussed further planning but when we checked the

google spread sheet we only had a couple people sign up. This was very

disappointing because I put so much hard work into pre-planning the event

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and making this document that only 5 people filled it out. I didn’t give up

though, I continued to spread the word. I called some of the people I knew in

my cohort and asked if they would share the link on any group pages they

were a part of on Facebook. This helped dramatically because by the end of

the week we had 15 volunteers. We still needed 15 more though!

We received an update from Ann, we have 13 schools now instead of

12 which we were very excited to hear because that would mean more

students. Our scheduled got switched around also. We were scheduled to do

our activity at 11:15 am and now we are starting at 11 which wasn’t a

problem. We just had to move our departure time 15 minutes earlier than

planned. Being good at adapting is a good sign as a leader in my opinion. I

think that when change happens many people stress out or freak out

because it’s not what was in their plan. But if you look at it in a positive

manner it helps the situation out, which is exactly what I did.


We came across some complications with our google document. Many

students were trying to sign up and couldn’t click on the link but then others

had no problem. We thought this might had to do with why we couldn’t get

volunteers. So for several hours I tried recreating the same google document

and fixing what could have been the problem. Fortunately, it was all figured

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out. We were still short in volunteers and the deadline for the application was

approaching soon.

Instead of worrying about the amount of volunteers I had I started

focusing on the activities because we only had three weeks till the event and

we needed to start ordering anything we might need for the activities. I

started to create an outline of how I wanted the day to look. My rough draft

consisted of an introduction, a lollipop speech which I’ll go into greater detail

later, speech about leadership and inclusion which included personal stories,

roller coaster, and then Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity who would step/stroll and

introduce themselves and discuss why leadership is important to their

fraternity and how it ties in with them. These were just a couple of the plans I

made within in the last 7 weeks of planning that I thought would go well for

the event.

This week Jesi was out of town so all of our communication was

through via email which was sort of frustrating because I personally like to

talk face to face, there’s less complications. We effectively figured out

everything so I really couldn’t complain. With spring break coming up I was

happy to say all my time was used efficiently. I was right on schedule.

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This week was very slow due to it being spring break. The only big

responsibilities I had was to email Anne about any music we were going to

be using and what type of technology we might be using like videos,

microphones, etc. This had to be submitted by the 12th. We ended up

deciding that we would only need the cordless microphone and music for Phi

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Beta Sigma so that was easily emailed ASAP and given to Anne without any

problems.

The next thing I had to do was email Dan Ekonen who is the director of

UNIFY sports and give him the proper shirt sizes for all my volunteers. I had a

total of 31 students which was one passed my goal of 30. We had 21

Leadership Institute students which included myself and Jesi and 10 Phi Beta

Sigma Fraternity men coming down. It was very simple to give him these

sizes because I already asked previously in the google document their sizes.

I also had to let him know about any items we might need for the event. He

was also in charge of our lunch which was going to be provided by Jimmy

Johns and the Special Olympic office was very generous and paid for that and

our transportation. We needed 4 vans which I let Dan know and he said that

there would be no problem. I was so glad to have him and the Special

Olympic crew to help fund the event because if not I would have no idea

where I would get the money for all these amazing things.


A week before our big event, I would have to say the most stressful

too. We had our activities all planned out and ready to go. We had all the

details with Dan all figured out, and the emails were flowing in tremendously

day by day. I also emailed all my lovely volunteers to let them know what’s

been going on and allow them to feel included on the details. I emailed Anne

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about any other minor details like parking, dress code, and if it was okay if I

brought lollipops for my speech in their auditorium. I did this because I

wanted to make sure that we were there in the most respectful manner

because we were representing the Leadership Institute and most importantly

Central Michigan University. Many of these students have may never heard

of CMU so I believe that having a good first impression is important. She

loved that I asked these questions and she couldn’t wait to meet me and my

wonderful volunteers.

With that being said, I had to finalize my training manual. This was a

goal that I had because I wanted all my volunteers to feel prepared and if

they had any questions they could follow the guidelines. I made all my

volunteers attend this meeting so that they knew what was going on the

next day and it was all up to date on how the events were going to flow. I

wanted to look professional and in order to do this, we had to all be on the

same page. Jesi and I met on Monday to go over any last minute details

before our training meeting on the 19th. We planned for 8pm on Thursday to

have everyone meet at Powers hall to go over our very exciting event. Within

in this training we had all the volunteers place quotes on 700 plus lollipops

for the students. This look a lot of time but we managed to get it done. We

went over all details and ran through the day which was very effective. I felt

very well prepared for the big day.

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Week 10 Reflection (3/20/15-3/26/15)

The event went so well, I couldn’t have asked for a better staff. The

Sigma’s killed their part, we were right on time, we remember to pack

everything, and no one was late. Words can’t describe how amazing I felt to

be in front of 700 students and talk about leadership and do activities that

put the biggest smile on their faces. They all said that we were the best part

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of the day which made our whole team feel amazing. We had students, staff,

teachers, and Special Olympic directors up off their feet and dancing with us.

Even though it was very time consuming and stressful I would do it all over in

a heartbeat. The event was perfect, and I know that my facilitation skills,

coordinating skills, and overall leadership skills improved tremendously. My

volunteers even were challenged in their own individual ways which was

great because challenges allow you to grow as a leader.

The only complications we had were receiving our zip up shirts on

time. The man who delivered them were late so we unfortunately didn’t get

to wear them when we were doing the event and we also didn’t have

enough. Only one box came in which was upsetting, but my volunteers were

great players about it. I had to contact Dan again and reorder the shirts

which was inconvenient but if that’s the only thing that I could complain

about then I would say that’s a pretty successful project. I’m so grateful that

I had so many people helping me with this great event.

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Section 5: Evaluation

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Section 6: Final Reflection

Final Reflection

Did you meet your goals-why or why not?

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I had both success and failures in my goals. I say this because I failed

in doing more with the DOW college opportunity program. I thought I

would have more than enough time to achieve both Special Olympics

and that. I achieved my 123 hours and I was able to complete all the

others goals and action plans. I created a training manual that was

effective and organized and was able to scout more than enough

volunteers for the UNIFY event. I also met with Jesi weekly to discuss

all plans. I think overall I successfully met all my written goals down.

But I also had personal goals that I wanted to achieve and I think I did.

I wanted to grow as a leader and planning this event allowed me to do

that in ways I never did. So many people believed in me and I didn’t

believe in myself which pulled me back. I now know my capabilities are

much higher than I see them to be.

What leadership “lessons” did you learn?

I think I learned that leadership is something you will never stop

learning in. I’ve been involved with leadership programs for three

years now and I’ve thought I’ve learned a lot but there are so many

more lessons to be learned. I think the biggest one I’ve learned was

that going outside your comfort zone is healthy. I’ve done projects

where I had to coordinate events but to coordinate 700 students was

scary because I’ve never done something so big. I also was impressed

that I went against the grain. I never thought I would be the first

person to get divine nine fraternities involved with Special Olympics.

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Because of my bravery in trying something new they want more divine

nine involved with this coming summer games which hopefully I can

help coordinate that too. Taking chances is another huge lesson that I

learned as being a leader. If you don’t take chances you will never

know how far your potential could be.

What could you have done differently?

Honestly in terms of as a leader I’m not quite sure. I was authentic and

creative and I was organized throughout the whole project. I wouldn’t

have changed the volunteers I had or the experiences I’ve made. I

would however say that I wish I could have focused on the DOW

program more, but there are still many more opportunities to come

and hopefully I can continue that next semester for my own personal

project.

How did your experience truly connect with your chosen leadership model?

The leadership approaches I chose were transformational and servant

leadership. As a servant leader I allowed other to help out and fulfill

their goals and visions. I allowed others to take the spot light and

become better leaders. It’s not all about the person who coordinated it,

it’s about all the people who came together to create an event that

could be successful. At the end of the day it was for the students, and

if they took anything out of it I hope they took the message behind all

the activities we did. As transformational leadership, I would say the

changes I made within the Special Olympic community. I now have 37

created a more diverse program with implementing Phi Beta Sigma. I

also created a new project for the Sigma’s to do for their volunteer

work that they actually enjoyed. This was all because I went against

the normal requirements for the job. I was creative and authentic and

this helped with showing the capabilities I held as a leader.

Has the perception of your own leadership skill changed as a result of this

experience?

Because of this amazing experience I have changed tremendously as a

leader. This also changed my perception of my own leadership skills. I

never believed I could be the one doing such amazing things with

volunteer work. I always stayed at the bottom and did the bare

minimum. This experience allowed myself to step out of that comfort

zone and try something big, and if I wouldn’t have took that chance I

would have never been able to achieve the amazing goals for myself.

I’m so proud of myself and that’s something I don’t save often. I really

did something amazing for the Lansing district and Special Olympics

Project UNIFY and now I know that my leadership skills are much more

than just an average Leader Advancement Scholar.

Will this experience impact your future?

Yes, in so many ways. I’m going into Criminal Justice and will be

working with many different types of people. In this one experience I

had the opportunity to work with different races, genders, and mental

disabilities. I think this will benefit my experience in this field and will 38

allow my leadership skills to continuously grow. Also this project

showed that I can effectively communicate through email and in

person. In careers now days, many people communicate through via

email which can be complicating at times and I was able to do it

successfully.

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Section 7: Epilogue

Epilogue

After this experience, I have a very new perspective on leadership.

There is no fine definition of leadership which I already knew, but I don’t

think there’s a “right” leader either. This experience has allowed myself to

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realize that there is no right way to lead. You can even fail and make

mistakes and be a great leader. To be a great leader is to allow yourself to

grow which I did just in this project and will continue to throughout my life. I

was extremely vocal and was able to use that in my advantage because my

voice was constantly being heard. I never allowed myself to overpower

anyone else’s opinion though because everyone should be heard. I love

positive change and I made sure as a good leader I implemented that into

my project.

My philosophy on leadership has changed and I’m glad it did because it

opened my eyes to things I’ve never experiences before. For example, I’ve

never made a change to a program before and being able to say that I

brought a great fraternity to get involved with something is an

accomplishment. If I wouldn’t have tried it, it would have never worked. I

think also leading by example is important also because integrity is part of

being a good leader. If you don’t lead by example your word won’t mean

anything to those around you. My volunteers knew that I took this very

seriously and wanted to be professional but at the same time be authentic

and fun. If you can’t have fun while you work than it’s not something you

should be doing. Leadership is such an important things and I hope more

people start applying it to their daily lives.

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Section 8: LDR 402 Feedback

LDR 402 Feedback

I personally feel that the project is an amazing capstone for leadership

minors. It allows you to show off your hard work and skills from the past

several years and be able to put it into something you love. If it wasn’t for

this project I would have never been able to find such great opportunities

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and meet such great people. With that being said I think feedback is very

important for leaders because it allows to show your strengths and

weaknesses as a leader and on how to improve on them. I wished that we

could have met with our 402 advisor more, almost like mandatory meetings

to make sure we were up to speed on everything. I think that would have

helped me better, but I know that would be difficult at times because of so

many students participating in 402. All in all, I’m pretty satisfied with this

class and am glad that I get to be part of this wonderful minor.

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Section 9: Appendix

(Rough Draft of the Whole Day)STAND UP, STAND STRONG, STAND TOGETHER

ANTI BULLYING SUMMIT TENTATIVE ITINERARY 2-19-15

FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 20157:00 a.m. Set up at Hill9:30 a.m. Student Arrival10:00 a.m. Program Begins:

Master of Ceremonies: Welcome/Introductions

o Lansing School Districto Any City and State Government Attendeeso Special Olympics Michigan

Video Presentation ( 2 minute You Tube Clip)

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10:15 a.m. Everett Unified Cheer Team Perform10:30 a.m. School Presentations (2) Schools TBD11:15 a.m. CMU Leadership Presentation11:30 a.m. Lunch: Presentation from Everett Dance Team

o Gym for students and school staffo Oak Room for dignitaries/administration

12:00 p.m. Everyone return to Auditorium12:10 p.m. Presentation Lansing Police Department12:20 p.m. Presentation Lansing School District Safety Dept.12:30 p.m. School Presentations: TBD1:45 p.m. Students/Staff Depart back to schools

LANSING PROJECT UNIFY VOLUNTEER FORM

The Leadership Institute will be facilitating a Project UNIFY leadership workshop for students from grades 7th-12th on Friday, March 20th, 2015. Project UNIFY promotes inclusive leadership opportunities and creates opportunities for people with and without disabilities to work together. CMU LI volunteer facilitators are needed to help lead a large group through a series of activities and team builders. If you are interested in facilitating, please complete this brief volunteer form by March 6th, 2015.

The time commitment to serve as a volunteer facilitator consists of a training session on Thursday, March 19th from 8pm – 9pm and the workshop in Lansing on March 20th, 2015. We will depart for the workshop at 9:30am and return from the workshop by 2pm. Transportation and meals will be provided. More detailed information will be given during the training session.

For more information please contact Chrystina Lightfoot at [email protected]

* RequiredLast Name:

We will be carpooling to Lansing in rental vans. If needed, would you feel comfortable driving a rental van?

o Yes, I feel comfortable driving a rental van. o No, I do not feel comfortable driving a rental van.

First Name:

Unisex tee shirt size:

The time commitment to facilitate is a training on Thursday, March 19th from 8-9 pm and the workshop on Friday, March 20th from. Will you require an excuse note?

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mailto:[email protected]

Special Olympics can provide you letters that explain your role as a facilitator, however, they do not guarantee your professor will excuse you from class.

o Yes, I need an excuse note for class or work o No I do not need an excuse note o Other:

Email:

Phone Number:

Please briefly list any relevant facilitator experience:

Have you ever volunteered with Special Olympics Before?

o Yes o No

Meals will be provided for volunteer facilitators. Do you have any dietary restrictions?

Is there anything else you need to share with the planning team relevant to this opportunity?

CMU Student ID Number *https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1FiDM6TBkG1yevFmYE4uEbVe36A4KQNxO6w3c-VzrW2E/viewform?c=0&w=1 (viewable link)

(ROUGH DRAFT)Special Olympic Michigan Project UNIFY LI Workshop

Set up: Participants sitting according to school section

10:45 Introductions/Welcome (Tina)Explain who we are, what we want to accomplish todayDo you want the facilitators on stage with you or with each school?I wouldn’t mind some facilitators up on stage with me and some with the school so I’m not the only one up there. That’s too much attention.

10:50 Lollipop Speech (who is doing this? Or are we playing the video? My personal opinion is that he talks too fast in the video)I agree completely, his speech is way too fast. I think

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https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1FiDM6TBkG1yevFmYE4uEbVe36A4KQNxO6w3c-VzrW2E/viewform?c=0&w=1

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1FiDM6TBkG1yevFmYE4uEbVe36A4KQNxO6w3c-VzrW2E/viewform?c=0&w=1

that this speech could go really well, I know that I’ll have the facilitators with the lollipops all ready before the speech so they can pass them out after my speech. I can do this speech, I just need to find a personal story to share.

10:55 Talk about leadership and inclusion (who?)- what are the three main points here? There needs to be a plan. Ideally focusing on how you don’t need a title to be a leader. Tie in stand up, stand strong, stand together!Personal story (from a volunteer- definitely pick this person ahead of time and also have them practice in front of us/at training)This is where I’m lost…I have no idea who would be willing to do this, any ideas? Each volunteer will have the lollipops for their school ready to pass out at the end of this speech. They should be giving the lollipop to someone else to make THEIR day better- not just eating the candy! I am double checking with Anne if we are allowed to do this because maybe there is no food allowed?I agree with the sharing the lollipop with someone else, that was my plan Were both on the same page with that!

11:00 Rain Activity (who? Maybe Jenn Drum!?) Make the connection to the difference each person

makes.I think if Jenn Drum is willing to do this that would be

amazing. I have the instructions if Jenn would like to look at it. I just don’t remember how it goes for the life of me. I know this is something that has to go smoothly to make the sounds sound correct. 11:05 Roller Coaster (led by Tina- the rest of the facilitators

on stage/in front) you’re going to want to drawwww this

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out long! Like super dramatic – tell a story of waiting in line for the roller coaster, how you were scared, ride of your life, etc. Ideally we will have streamers by school color.

11:10 Phi Beta Sigma Frat. Incorporated with stroll/step and introduce themselves. Will get the crowd involved by making a beat. LOVE

11:25 Make connection with the stroll to leadership- something along the lines of: teamwork- knowing when to lead/follow, learning from each other, stand together, etc. (Tina)Conclusion (Tina and feel free to have someone help you with this if you want to pick someone- just make sure they know before the training!) Re-connection to inclusion and leadership. Tie in the theme- stand up, stand strong, stand together!Use this as an opportunity to thank Phi Sigma Beta and also your CMU volunteers!

11:30 Drop the mic.

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(FINAL COPY-used for the volunteers)Lansing Special Olympics Project UNIFY Workshop

STAND UP, STAND STRONG, STAND TOGETHERFriday March 20th, 2015

9:15am Depart (leaving from SOMI office)4 Vans: Shelby Shafer, Michaela Bundy, Hannah McGoldrick, Cassy Daoust

10:20Approximate arrival (parking is free, no specific instructions were given)Hill Academic Center, 5815 Wise Rd, Lansing, MI 48911

10:30Facilitators are prepared and ready to rock! Each Facilitator/Pair will have a sign and lollipops pre-assigned to

them. Make sure you have these before our sections starts. Locate your assigned school in the auditorium.

10:45Introductions/Welcome

Who we are, what we hope to accomplish today Some facilitators will be on stage, the rest throughout the crowd

10:50Lollipop Speech

Speech (Tina)o Bellal Personal Storyo Kelsey Personal Storyo Closing (Tina)

Stand Up, Stand Strong, Stand Together

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During the last section of the speech (close to the end) pass out the lollipops for YOUR personal section/school. Make sure the students are still engaged and paying attention to the speech.

Each group will already have the set amount of lollipops in each bag. If school brought more or less people, please try to help each other out with the lollipops making sure every student gets one!

Remind the students not to eat the candy- it is meant for them to give to someone else to make their day

11:00Rain Activity (Jenn & Libby)

Facilitator Duties: during this activity you are responsible for demonstrating the motion/noise for your assigned section, following Jenn/Libby’s cues. Participants should then be following your movements/noises

o 4 or 5 facilitators per section of auditorium, visible to all participants

Rub Hands Together Snap Fingers Clap Hands Slap Thighs Stomp Feet

Wrap up point (Jenn & Libby): the connection to the difference each person makes

11:05Roller Coaster (led by Tina) - ALL facilitators on Stage

SUPER DRAMATIC/EXCITING Practice formation/check seat belts

11:10Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated

Introduce themselves/about their fraternity Stroll Crowd Involved

11:25Wrap Up (Tina)

Make the connection with the Fraternity and everything accomplished today

Teamwork Stand Up Stand Strong Stand Together

11:30Conclusion (Tina)

11:40 Meet at vans for departure. Make sure we have everything we came with!

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Lunch will be ready for you to eat on the ride back to CMU

Reminders:

NO Sweats, or Jeans with HOLES (Prefer khakis or black dress pants) Wear CMU shirt- SOMI shirt will be given to us when we get there! Comfortable shoes Drivers- don’t forget your license HAVE FUN and be EXCITED! If you don’t have a ride or parking pass: PLEASE let Tina know by the

end of this meeting and she will make sure we get you to the SOMI office in the morning

Contact Information:Tina Lightfoot Jesi Parker Dan Ekonen(906) 362-1233 (248) 701-9791 517-

[email protected] [email protected]@cmich.edu Beekman Center: 26Easter High School: 48Washington Woods Middle School: 50Lewton: 28Gardner LLG: 55Pleasant View Magnet School: 47Everett High School: 150Potterville High School: 30Holt High School: 50Sexton High School: 30Mason Middle School: 50Mason High School: 50STEM Academy: 50

Volunteer Names

Brown CaitlinPrielipp AnnaFlickinger AshleyLancina KelseyDaoust CassyAmmar Bellal

NordinGabrielle

June AlyssaKosinski Chloe

OguaEmmanuel

PriceMadeline

Allen Tori

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McGoldrick HannahDrum JenniferSalerno JordynBautch EmmaEkstrom SamuelBundy BundyShafer ShelbySiecinski LibbyBrown TaylorProvo Alexi

Phi Beta Sigma Volunteers: Kewan Boyd, Paul Barlow, Richard Walker, Rashaud Walker, Allen Seales, Tyree Waller, Kavon Frazier, Jordan Fields, Jonathon Carson, and Alston Young

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