By UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
A team of five Fort Hays State University organizational leadership students were awarded the Team Communication Award out of 15 teams in the college division at the recent Leadership Challenge Event at Washburn University.
Team members included Diana Angarita, San Felipe, Venezuela; Kourtney Davidson, Park; Slater Heglin, Ulysses; Laike Imm, Phillipsburg; and Tarah Stockebrand, Chanute.
During the annual Washburn Leadership Challenge Event, students received a half day of leadership development and participated in a full-day leadership simulation. Each student took on a role within the fictitious community of Metropolis and responded as a team to a leadership challenge.
At the event, which was hosted by Washburn’s Leadership Institute, students engaged with their team through an intense simulation throughout the day. Dr. Lori Kniffin, assistant professor of Leadership, said students typically comment on how real the experience feels.
“It’s a unique experience for our leadership students to put into practice what they have learned in our courses,” she said. “I was really proud of how they engaged in learning on the first day and put so much knowledge and passion into their proposal and presentation.”
“There were some lightbulb moments when the students saw some leadership concepts from class come to life.”
This year the team put together a community grant proposal to support their recommendations for responding to a grocery store that burnt down in a low-income neighborhood. Throughout the day, the students were judged on their communication, collaboration, and role-play in meetings.