Where Tomorrow’s Leaders are Students Today
Campus NewsBriefs A Weekly Update of Activities at Rust College Vol. 43, No. 3
September 12, 2013
Connecting With the Class of 2017 Summer came and went like the speed of light and with the blink of an eye, it was time to reconnect with Rust College and prepare for the arrival of the class of 2017. The first connection began with the student leaders on campus, who sacrificed a week of their summer vacation to come back to undergo intensive training with the annual Student Staff Leadership Training Institute (SSLTI). The Training Institute was held on campus and student leaders were trained on leadership skills, loan default management, anger management, basic first aid, cyber-bullying, and an array of other issues that college students tend to encounter. Some of our own Rust College family members volunteered to return early from vacation to help Left to Right: OWL Program Assistant Coordinators: Jamishela Williams, Nytisha educate and train our student leaders. Ms. Pearly Smith; OWLs: Tenecia Williams, Chelsea Alexis Jackson-Smith, Peer Advisors: Cortia Jones delivered a hearty welcome as she shared Henry, Chassity Burns. Front Center: OWL Lemarco McClendon the purpose of the SSLTI and ended big with creative humor that we all appreciated. We also had Dr. Sharron Sarthou, who shared her expertise on the academicallydiverse student and how students learn differently. She also shed light on students with special needs and how we might serve them effectively. Dr. Druscilla Neely, along with some of her criminal justice students, i.e.Walter Rhone, presented a very eye-opening workshop entitled “School to Prison Pipeline”, which shed light on how some school systems appear to “set some of our future leaders up for failure” by exhibiting a lack of trust and caring for our African American children; and by displaying what appears to be the mindset that they are criminals and will never amount to anything, or that they will only wind up in prison. We also heard from Ms. LaTanya Foreman, of the Rust College First Family Center, who gave valuable tips on anger management and problem solving. Other workshops included, STD Awareness and Prevention, Leadership Skills, A Peer to Peer Charge from the SGA President and Miss Rust (Noah Moore and Andrea Cooper), Loan Default Management Education, facilitated by Mrs. Benita Ivy, and Mr. Carl Robinson, Teambuilding facilitated by Mrs. Mildred Mitchell, Creating Community and Healthy Group Relationships facilitated by Mrs. Vivian Gulledge, and Cyber-Bullying facilitated by Ms. Aminta Spight, just to name a few. All of these workshops have a propensity to prompt students to either drop out of school or be dismissed due to disciplinary reasons. The Student Staff Leadership Training Institute is designed to teach our student leaders how to correctly and efficiently respond to and peer LaTanya Foreman counsel with students who may come to them plagued with these issues. They are also taught how to recognize when they are not qualified or knowledgeable enough to advise a student and when and where to refer that student to a professional Rust College staff person. Continued on page 2