October 21, 2011                                                    Contact:  Jessica Golley

Director, Marketing & Communications
Jamestown Business College
716-488-3022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

First Class Completes JBC’s Leadership Launch

Participants honored with ceremony at Robert H. Jackson Center

Jamestown, N.Y.—Last night, officials from Senator Catharine Young’s office and from Jamestown Business College recognized the first group of high school seniors from Chautauqua County who completed the JBC Leadership Launch with Senator Catharine Young program. The program, which began its first session in September, was designed to develop the leadership skills of select students throughout the county.

          As part of the program, nominated seniors participated in a series of interactive leadership activities at JBC. The five-week program provided students with the opportunity to improve their own leadership capabilities. The first session in September included team building activities and a leadership discussion with Senator Young. From there, students experienced interactive sessions on the topics of communication, initiative, and leadership traits. They worked with the college’s faculty and staff, along with a local training professional on these efforts.

JBC President, David Conklin, was pleased with the program and with the students who participated. “I truly enjoyed following the course of this program,” he said. “It was a pleasure to welcome such an engaged and motivated group of students to the college. We hope that more students like them come through this program in the future.”

He was also glad to share a version of programming that has already found success within JBC’s student body. “Over the past ten years, we have witnessed the effect of our own professional trainings at the college and the impact that they have on student success,” he said. “So when we saw an opportunity to share that with our surrounding schools and communities, we welcomed it, and got busy planning a program geared toward a new type of student.”

Members of the local business/education community also had a hand in the creation of the program. In March, a focus group gathered at the college to brainstorm ways that the program would be most effective for students.

Two members of that focus group – Elisabeth Rankin from Assemblyman Goodell’s Office and Megan Sorenson from the Robert H. Jackson Center – were on hand to congratulate the student participants.

Sorenson, who is the Director of Development and Communications at the Robert H. Jackson Center, spoke with the students and shared how pleased she was to see students taking leadership initiative so early. “By participating in such a worthwhile program as the JBC Leadership Launch with Senator Catherine Young—and through developing the skills and abilities these students already possess which make them great leaders—they are well on their way to becoming accomplished young adults and engaged citizens. It’s so encouraging to see students involved in this type of dialogue with the community, and I applaud JBC for offering this opportunity to them…”

Megan Zimba, a program participant from Jamestown High School, said that the activities helped her look at leadership in a new way. “Leadership is not only what you say, but also how you carry yourself every day…and the choices that you make,” she said. “The activities really made that idea pop out for me and I’m going to keep it in mind as I move ahead…”

The program will continue at the college next year. Program dates will be announced in the future.   

Jamestown Business College offers business-focused Associate and Bachelor degrees and certificate programs that include targeted professional development activities.  For more information on registering for these programs, call 664-5100 or visit us online at www.JamestownBusinessCollege.edu.   

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2011 CLASS: The first class of students to complete JBC’s Leadership Launch with Senator Catharine Young were recently honored with a ceremony at the Robert H. Jackson Center. Students honored, from left, were: Gabby Garver (Falconer), Olivia Kaltenbach (Brocton), Rachel Boll (Ripley), Colleen Kimball (Falconer), Megan MacDonald (Falconer), Dylan Stow (Panama), Jackie Delcamp (Brocton), Shauna Brunea (Forestville), Megan Zimba (Jamestown), Katie Fickelscherer (Forestville).

SORENSON: Robert H. Jackson Center Director of Development and Communications, Megan Sorenson, speaks to students and guests at the awards ceremony of the Leadership Launch program. 

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