The impressive accomplishments of Jamestown High School students this year makes Graduation Week a great opportunity for celebration. The JHS football team brought home a state championship, the JHS Marching Band took first place at the state and the JHS valedictorian attained a National Merit Scholarship letter of commendation and was selected for the 2015 First Team Academic Team. One of the co-presidents of the Senior Class was named a Community All Star by Buffalo Business First and the All Western NY Prep Talk Awards for Basketball Players of the Year for girls and boys basketball went to two JHS seniors. Additionally, the same young man took home the Male Athlete of the Year Award. There are many more accolades, too numerous to count. To be clear, we honor each and every student who graduates this year. However, as it relates to community energy, revitalization and progress, we will concentrate on representative students who have helped bring their school to such high levels of recognition, and in doing so, take lessons learned into our own community work.

Several students were interviewed in order to better understand their character and leadership development. It is important and instructive to understand why they have become known as leaders, how student groups and teams work together to achieve such high goals and bring such prestige to JHS and our community, and what actually inspires them to do so.

The following are observations and examples of the Words of Wisdom that I discovered:

Many of the leaders are very good friends with one another. In some cases they grew up together in the same neighborhood. They trust and respect each other. They are products of strong, closely knit family settings. Parents, grandparents, and extended families have clearly played an important role. Faith and Church play a significant role in their lives and most are quite involved with church activities.

They lead by example. If they are gifted with talents and skills, they realize they have a responsibility to be good role models for others. They model good behavior. Character, trust, honesty, reliability and dependability are keys to their own individual success and also to their combined activities. The students leaders act in a civil way, are loyal, honest, ethical and trustworthy. They want to leave a good impression and make others feel the best that they can. They are introspective. They want to grow their character and develop leadership skills. They purposefully try to improve themselves. Their mantra is “Do Your Best”. They don’t brag about themselves, rather they want to be team players. In athletics, they don’t care who gets the credit as long as they score. They really model teamwork.

They are all hardworking, in school, in work, and in volunteer activities. They are goal driven and dedicated. They are accepting of others and treat others like they want to be treated themselves. They feel that leaders need to work hard if not harder than others, and that it is also good to work behind the scenes. They feel that you have to have a passion for whatever you are leading and involve as many people as you can. You must also have patience, since things don’t always move fast. Compromise is the key. They stress that you have to be positive to get the work done. You may not agree with others, but you have to find commonalities.

The student leaders include others in their work and activities. Everyone is important and needs to be valued, not just leaders, or the stars of academics, music or athletic teams. They reach out to and include others, knowing that everyone wants to be connected. They know it is easy for students to get lost in the mix. They are the drivers and they cooperate and work together with others. They feel that leadership is facilitating, not dictating. The student leaders feel that it is important to get along with everyone. Leaders shouldn’t put themselves on a pedestal. They need to put themselves on an equal playing field with others. They believe that empathy is necessary for leadership. Helping others is the key as is treating others fairly. They try to understand the motives of others. They try not to judge, since they know everyone has their own story. They feel that leaders need to be focused on the wellbeing of everyone. Some leaders may be very good, but are there for themselves. It works better if you are there for everyone. They want to make others feel the best that they can. A student leader doesn’t know all the answers, and is not afraid to admit it.

They believe in highlighting the good things that happen, not the bad. Some things are blown out of proportion. The school cannot be defined by sporadic negative happenings. It is so much more than that. There is much good happening in the schools. Jamestown needs to be proud of JHS. There is a need for an overarching cause to overcome apathy in the student body. Kallie’s Crusade brought the whole school together, the goal was reached, the record beaten and everyone came together for such an important cause. It was a defining and unifying experience for a large and diverse student body. It is important to have something to believe in. Difficult problems such as drugs and violence need prevention and treatment, not just punishment. There is a need to be more proactive.

Jamestown has problems, but the good overshadows them. People sometimes pull in opposite directions, resulting in stagnation. We need a common vision and goals. People need something to rally around. Elected public office holders need to be there for the right reasons. The community needs to be more open to change and needs to look forward, not backwards. The community is ours-what we make of it is up to us. Just one person can make a difference. If we give to the community, the community will give back. Communication, teamwork, collaboration and compromise are the key, in school and in the community.

Each of the student leaders was enriched, helped and supported by stand out adults, including family members, teachers, coaches and music directors. These individuals set the vision and goals, were strong motivators and outstanding role models. They will be remembered as remarkable individuals all throughout the students’ lives.

It was quite an experience spending time with these several young women and men. They seem to already understand what it means to be a leader and what it takes to become one. They also know what a real responsibility it is to assume such a role. They seem wise beyond their years.

We all would do well to understand what these young people have accomplished during their time at JHS. They have excelled in academics, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, community work, church work, and in addition have shown traits and qualities that represent “leadership”. They have demonstrated hard work, focus, dedication, respect for others, a humble attitude, honesty and integrity. They want to improve themselves and do good in the world. They know that a vision and goals are the stepping-stones to getting something done. They understand that a know it all attitude does not work. Their work is done by including others, valuing others, working collaboratively and cooperatively toward consensus, and then, even against odds, having their TEAM win. It is indeed an awesome experience to get to know them and describe them so that we can all learn from them and aspire to be better.

Kudos and many thanks to Steve, Sarah, Jacob, Zack, Katie, Luis, Cameron, Abbie and Sydney. Our collective hats are off to you. Go out and do good work in the world. We can pray that you will return home to your community, family and friends. Godspeed.