By: Reporter Ksenya Seager
A three-day LAUNCH retreat at Onaway Island from Aug. 23-25 trains Neenah LAUNCH Leaders team building activities, leadership skills and lesson plans for the upcoming school year.
LAUNCH is a program led by teacher Brian Borchardt consisting of 138 student leaders who lead a variety of activities such as giving tours around the school, promoting respect campaigns and leading Freshman Seminar classes.
Once leaders among hundreds of applicants are chosen for the program in spring, the work begins as they are divided into teams of six or seven. Each team is then assigned a number and approximately 20 freshman students. Select leaders who have been in the program for a few years are elected to be Executive LAUNCH leaders who plan many activities, including the retreat.
After corresponding with Borchardt throughout the summer, LAUNCH leaders arrive at the retreat. Over the course of three days, leaders are divided into their teams and learn skills that they can use when leading a classroom. They attend different rotations led by Neenah High School Staff about personality types, problem solving through situations, respect, communication skills and activities to use with their students. Throughout the retreat there are also many fun team-building activities in which to participate.
“This retreat not only gives us time to plan everything that we are doing over the year, but it also helps us bond with each other and create friendships so the overall experience will be a lot more enjoyable,” sophomore LAUNCH leader Beatrice Padgham said.
Leaders are also given free time to meet with their teams to discuss the type of “teachers” they wish to be, different techniques to get students involved, and what reward systems they are going to have in their classroom. Though the lesson plans are created and used with all seminar classes, each LAUNCH team has the freedom to include their own touches and activities.
Overall, LAUNCH leaders work together behind the scenes on many different occasions in attempt to make NHS the best place it can possibly be.
