Letter to the Editor: Leadership training leads to elitism

Leadership training has been going on in Wooster City Schools for as long as I can remember, but I have started to notice a lack of inclusion of people from every school group.

Isn’t leadership training supposed to help students create a school full of leadership and talent?

I’ve watched dozens of new programs as they are launched and they all have a base in leadership. All of these programs take a small group of my classmates, who are picked by administrators and teachers, and the same students, and groups of students, are picked every time.

If these same people are picked every time, how are other groups supposed to learn leadership skills?

Sports have been a divider in most things, but when the girls’ volleyball team is picked over and over for leadership training, then it raises the question: why them instead of other teams?  Why not the boys’ cross country team or the boys’ baseball team?

I have received commendations on my leadership from the State of Ohio, Air Camp USA and Boy Scouts of America, but only once have I been asked to be a part of a leadership-based program. If the administrators and teachers are concerned with creating leaders, then why do people like me, who want to be leaders, get pushed aside?

I have heard teachers say the reason they keep the same students in training is due to behavioral issues. Troublemakers cause trouble for one reason especially: they don’t know how to lead people.  By sending them to the trainings, you can cause them to lead in a positive light instead of a negative.

Therefore, I challenge you, teachers and administrators, to think about the quiet students or the troublemakers next time you choose students for the training; it will have a lasting effect.