Leadership graduates 25th class
Published 10:59 am Wednesday, May 22, 2019
- The Selma-Dallas County Leadership Class 25 poses for a picture in front of the Hank Sanders Tech Building at WCCS, from left to right: Sean Vandiver, Valerie Reubin, Veronica Evans, Franklin Fortier, Cheryl Pettaway-Colvin, Astrid Craig, Lee James-Pettaway, Quincella E. Simmons, Marla Moore, Lance Eiland and Heather Wright. Not pictured: Amy Michelle Jones, Yakeler Rush, William Whaley and Barja Wilson.
The members of Selma-Dallas County Leadership Class 25 officially graduated Tuesday night after spending the last 10 months in the program.
A graduation ceremony was held for the Leadership Class in the Hanks Sanders Building at Wallace Community College Selma.
According to County Extension Coordinator Callie Nelson, the Leadership Selma-Dallas County is a community based leadership development program that focuses on solving problems, working with others and building leadership skills
Nelson said that this years Leadership class has been exposed to all of the resources that Dallas County has to offer.
“There eyes have definitely been opened to the community,” said Nelson. “They’ve become aware of how the products that are made in Dallas County Shape the entire world.”
As part of the program,the class toured some local industries in Dallas County including International Paper and Henry Brick.
The 15 graduates all learned a great deal from their time in the program.
Lance Eiland stated that enjoyed getting to know his fellow classmates as well as experiencing new perspectives, angles and ways to solve problems.
“The big takeaway,” said Eiland, “Is that there’s more than one way to solve a problem. And as long as the group approaches the problem together, it’s much easier to solve.”
Dallas County Commissioner Valerie Reubin said that her time in the leadership program has helped her as an elected official.
“It’s been a great experience,” said Reubin. “I’m an elected official and there’s a lot of things we have here in Dallas County that I didn’t even know we had.”
Reubin said that the most valuable lesson that she learned during her time at leadership is the importance of teamwork.
“If we can get together and work together, we can accomplish anything,” she said.
After an invocation and dinner, Selma City Schools Superintendent Dr. Avis Williams delivered a speech as the guest speaker, challenging the 25th leadership class to expand on their roles as leaders.
“When you’re in a leadership program like this it’s great to network, to meet, to learn and to grow together but when the program ends your leadership does not,” said Williams.
