Seven NCC students from the Monroe Campus celebrated their hard work at a Student Leadership Graduation Ceremony on November 27. The students, who were chosen at the beginning of the fall semester for the leadership development program through a competitive selection process, met for presentations and exercises led by NCC faculty and staff as well as community leaders. In addition, they truly proved themselves to be leaders by breaking new ground in Monroe County: implementing flooding awareness and education.

Last February, NCC was the only college in Pennsylvania selected to receive a State Farm grant to promote service learning. The grant enabled students in the program to develop their leadership skills while raising awareness about flooding and educating children about preparedness.

At the ceremony, Laurie Rosenberg, the State Farm grant coordinator, said, “No one has ever done this in Monroe County before. Pennsylvania is the second largest flood damaged state in the country. To be one of the first to educate on this subject shows real leadership.”

^{Leaderhsip students pictured above from left to right:  Maryellen Keegan, Bonnie Schneider, Chileda Bordes, J.P. Page, Brandon Reed, and James Schaffroth. Alma Barrantes is not pictured.}

Alma Barrantes, Chileda Bordes, Maryellen Keegan, J.P. Page, Brandon Reed, James Schaffroth, and Bonnie Schneider divided into teams to tackle projects related to the subject.

J.P. Page, Brandon Reed, and James Schaffroth created a rain garden outside of the Hannig Family Children’s Center. A rain garden is designed to absorb rainwater runoff, thus decreasing the amount of water that flows into storm drains and creeks and rivers which can potentially cause flooding.

Alma Barrantes, Bonnie Schnieder, and James Schaffroth created a curriculum that emphasized the best management practices for dealing with storm water for eighth grade students at the Evergreen Community School. The Evergreen students will learn what they have used in a problem solving simulation at the end of the unit.

Chileda Bordes and Maryellen Keegan created a disaster preparedness video using the characters Floodman and the Floodketeers to help teach elementary students what they need to know in case of a flood.

“It was a great opportunity,” Bonnie Schneider said about participating in the leadership program. “NCC presents an opportunity for higher education which isn’t always available for some people.”

In September, the students participated in a leadership retreat. Visit the Photo Gallery to view images from this event.