KYLA Graduates 34 MembersThirty-four members graduated from the Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy Wednesday night.
Tony Ciriello served as moderator and presented the graduates with diplomas during a graduation ceremony at 2517 Restaurant, Warsaw.
The graduates are juniors at Warsaw Community, Tippecanoe Valley, Triton, Lakeland Christian Academy and Wawasee high schools.Coral Amspaugh-Topolski, KYLA president, thanked the graduates for their efforts.
"I believe that our community is and will be a better place to live and work due to your efforts now and in the future," Amspaugh-Topolski said.
Graduates were required to participate in at least 10 hours of community service in Kosciusko County to better the community in which they live.
At-large KYLA members for next year selected by the KYLA board are Joel Widman, Lakeland Christian Academy, and Claire Sheer, Wawasee High School.
KYLA graduates Riley Carswell, Kara Lee Lemler and Daniel Snyder, all of Triton, were selected by the KYLA board of directors to discuss their project they completed.
The group's Project Proud was volunteering at Kosciusko Community Hospital. They showed a slide presentation of their volunteer efforts at KCH.
They volunteered in the hospital's gift shop by working the cash register, restocking shelves, and making cookie rounds to the residents. They volunteered in the emergency room, escorting visitors to and from the lobby and rooms. They also assembled IV starter kits and answered patient's call light, providing the patient's with blankets, snacks and beverages.
Gib Young, Huntington, portrayed President Theodore Roosevelt and spoke to the graduates about what it means to be a leader.
Dressed in a black suite, tie and spectacles, he gave an impersonation of the 26th president.
Young is a member of the Fort Wayne Civil War Roundtable and travels around the United States personifying Roosevelt.
Young said the graduates have the ability to achieve, lead and do good work, but they must have the heart, desire and courage to be great leaders.
He said the qualities of good leaders are someone who is decisive and gathers facts and opinions, is able to make decisions, and thinks for themselves.
He said it is important for a leader to always learn new things and read often.
