For its 30th anniversary, Kosciusko Leadership Academy’s graduation ceremony Thursday night was done slightly different than past years. Two White Paper Projects received the 2011 Jean Northenor Project Proud Award, and there were three guest speakers instead of one. With the Project Proud Award, each team received $1,000 to help bring their projects to fruition. The first winning project was “En Español – A Resource for the Spanish-Speaking Community”. Team members and their KLA sponsors included Wendi Lallier, Maple Leaf Farms; Trina Hoy, Warsaw/Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce; Lidia Soriano, Maple Leaf Farms; Brittany Martin, Creighton Brothers; and Rashanda King, Kosciusko County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Upon receiving the award, Hoy said, “We’re just really honored to win this award.” She said the group felt the growing Hispanic population in the county was underserved. For their project, they are taking Chamber documents and posting them on a website in Spanish. “Lakes Festival Expansion” was the other winning project. Team members and their KLA sponsors included Elaine Bultemeier, Warsaw Community Schools; Nathan Bosch, Grace College; Beth McHaffie, CenturyLink; Stacy Thomas, YMCA; and Bill Watson, ABC Industries Inc. Bosch said receiving the award was great, and thanked everyone. Their prize money will be put toward helping to expand the Lakes Festival and getting more people to come to the event. It also will help create a one-mile fun run for children up to 14 years old. According to Past KLA President David Findlay, the three rules for a project to win the award are that the project must be a doable project, must be sustainable and must have countywide impact benefitting more than one town or one organization. The graduation banquet at 2517 Restaurant started with 2010-11 KLA President Allison McSherry welcoming everyone. She said they were not only there for the graduation, but for the organization’s 30th anniversary. She thanked Jean Northenor, one of the original founders of KLA, and the past presidents, venues and speakers for their support and efforts. KLA continues to impress its students, showcases the county and shows people how they can get involved, she said. Al Disbro was recognized by McSherry for taking photos and recording 30 years of KLA. Advisor Steve Grill said in his 28 years being part of KLA, he’s done some research. As far as he is able to determine, the founders of KLA were the first group in the U.S. to put a countywide leadership academy together. “It is amazing that it has worked,” Grill said. For a community of less than 75,000 people, Grill said, KLA is the longest, continuing leadership academy in the country as far as he could find. He introduced the three speakers, a first in KLA history to have three. The first speaker was Craig Tidball via video. Tidball was in Arizona accepting an award and could not be in person. Tidball was one of the first students of KLA 30 years ago. “Thirty years. It’s kind of hard to get my arms around that,” Tidball said. He said he recalled the buzz of that first year, and it was clear KLA was something special. KLA was a great launching pad for his own volunteerism, he said, and he encouraged everyone to get involved. The second speaker was Judy Bird. She recalled how she used to be the introvert and her husband, the late Bill Reneker, was the extrovert. KLA helped her become an extrovert and got her involved in the community. “Because of KLA, now I am a networker,” she said. She also told the 2011 graduating class, “If KLA can make such a difference in my life, it certainly can in your life as well.” The last speaker was Suzie Light, executive director of the Kosciusko County Community Foundation. Light spoke about how the creators of KLA sought a way for others to be developed into leaders. The founders – Northenor, Doug Grant, Matt Dalton – were leaders who did not seek power or want to hold on to power themselves, but sought others to take on the mantel of leadership. She talked about how KLA taught her so much, and continues to teach her to this day. Third, she said, the graduates today are challenged to not covet others’ success, but to use their leadership skills wherever they go. “With every interaction you have, you have a leadership opportunity,” Light said. McSherry presented Northenor with a 2011 class photo take earlier in the evening. Northenor recognized Grant, who attended the event. “He was the first president and we fought for 30 years how KLA came to be,” Northenor joked. “He wants to take the credit, and I want to take credit.” She said he may have been the president, but he made her do all the work. He just showed up with the doughnuts. “She never understood the difference between administration and operation,” Grant joked back. “And I still don’t!” Northenor responded. Northenor also thanked Brad Bishop and Light for helping her select this year’s Project Proud Award winners. She said it was a tough year to judge. Selection chair Cameron Plew spoke to the sponsors. “Without you, we don’t have a program,” he said. He asked all of the sponsors for their continued support. “It doesn’t matter if the candidate is young, old or inbetween. Age is irrelevant to our program,” he said. Plew said applications are available at the Chamber of Commerce, Kosciusko County Community Foundation or online at KLAconnect.com
