Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 22, 1994                   TAG: 9412240038
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV10   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN                                  LENGTH: Medium

PULASKI COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS GET LEADERSHIP LESSONS

Twenty students serving as class officers or on the Student Government Association devoted a morning this month to a leadership training workshop provided on school time.

Mark Coward, executive director of the Virginia YMCA based in Lynchburg, conducted the program.

``We specialize in leadership development activities for teen-agers,'' he said. Its best-known activity is probably the Model General Assembly, in which students go to Richmond and become state senators, delegates, pages, officers, lobbyists and reporters for a weekend alongside the actual legislator.

More than 25,000 students in Virginia have taken part in the program since its start in 1948.

The state YMCA also offers a Model Judiciary Program, where students take part in simulated trials and appeals culminating in a Model Supreme Court in Richmond.

During a Model Executive Government Conference, students work on issues of statewide interest and confer with people in the executive branch, various state agencies and special-interest groups. The Young Lawyers Section of the Virginia Bar Association co-sponsors the program.

``In recent years, we've been giving more training like this,'' Coward said of the Pulaski County workshop. ``A lot of it's tied up with self-esteem.''

This was the first time the workshop had been brought to Pulaski County.

``Different schools have different needs. We try to tailor the training for what they want,'' Coward said. ``We want kids to come out of this with their eyes open, be willing to step forward and get involved.''

The students tackled leadership problems provided by Coward as a single group and in small groups. They discussed how to set goals and objectives, run a meeting and communicate. Other topics included time management and community activities.

Student participants included SCA officers Jeremiah Montgomery, Doug Freeman, Ashlee Hamblin and Priya Acharya; seniors Bethany Burrus, Michelle Ruiz, Lindsey Huff and Jodie Hallett; juniors Brook Eley, Sherry Burroughs, Courtney Peek and Chrissy Campbell; sophomores Loren Biggs, January Estes, Penny K. Beckner, Farrah Crane and Keli Buckner, and freshmen Becca Conner, Jami Edwards and Laura Linkous.