FC Leadership Academy focuses on community service
July 28, 2023
Forty-two rising Upper St. Clair seventh and eighth-graders recently participated in the Leadership Academy at Fort Couch Middle School. The week-long experience, held from July 17-21, was facilitated by teachers Andrew Bowers, Erin Bruce, Michael DaVia and Eliza Luxbacher.
Community service plays a pivotal role within the Leadership Academy. This year, the Fort Couch program partnered with Beverly’s Birthdays and the Center for Energy Policy & Management at Washington & Jefferson College.
“We feel that our service-learning experience is a meaningful way for students to model and deepen their appreciation for the values of leadership that we explore throughout the week,” Mr. DaVia said. “The Fort Couch Leadership Academy partnered with these dynamic organizations for their dedication to our core values of teamwork, productivity, openness, integrity, honesty, excellence, risk-taking, courage, commitment and reflection.”
In addition to learning about the mission and values of each organization, students volunteered their time and energy organizing supplies and creating donation bags for the organizations’ community stakeholders.
“We believe that we learn from doing as well as from working together,” Mr. DaVia said. “We hope our students are able to see the impact of creating supportive teamwork opportunities that positively impact our local and larger communities.”
Throughout the week, students worked individually and collaboratively to define their own emerging definitions of leadership.
“Our paramount goal for the week is that students can observe, evolve and demonstrate their own mastery of leadership skills that will enhance their academic and socio-emotional development,” Mr. DaVia said.
Upper St. Clair’s Leadership Academy currently offers middle and high school students the opportunity to learn and develop leadership concepts and practices. Established in 2010, the week-long summer program was nationally recognized with a Magna Award from the National School Boards Association’s magazine, American School Board Journal, in 2013.
