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Assumption Hosts Second Annual NCCSA Student Leadership Conference The conference, “Leading with Heart” was attended by approximately 140 participants from 22 schools in the Worcester diocese and one school from the Boston diocese. School principals, teachers, coaches and parents also participated in the conference as part of a workshop on student aspirations. The middle school students took part in three workshops, “Speaking and Listening,” “Team Building,” and “Clarifying Values,” under the direction of 18 Assumption College student volunteers. Some of the exercises within the workshops included students sitting back-to-back and describing diagrams to each other; traversing across a room in teams with only the use of five wooden blocks; and a values auction where students could bid on love, beauty and peace with artificial money. Other full group activities such as a “human centipede” race took place in the Hagan Campus Center. The goal of the conference according to Kristin Melley, director of the NCCSA, is to give middle school students an opportunity to be leaders among their peers. Students attending the conference are chosen by administrators at their respective schools. “Through this conference we let middle school students know that by taking steps today they can be somebody tomorrow,” said Melley. “This is a great way for Assumption to show that we really care about Catholic education.” The day ended with students discussing goal setting within their individual school groups. This activity gave the students a chance to address problem areas within their own schools and to come up with ways of solving them. Topics discussed included graffiti, making student council meaningful, the use of school uniforms, and bullying. Assumption students who served as volunteers at the conference were: Frank Galligan, Jeff Roy, Danielle St. Martin, Casey Hatten, Erin Ranft, Michela D’Erramo, Kristina Fox, Kevin O’Connell, Nicole Dellasanta, Tania Palumbo, Kristen Penkala, Tim Finnegan, Charlaine St. Charles, Andrea Aswad, Jaclyn Carriveau, Emilie Clucas, Felisha Marques, and Amanda Carelli.
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Worcester, MA - The National Catholic Center for Student Aspirations (NCCSA) at Assumption College hosted its second annual leadership conference for middle school students from 23 area Catholic schools on January 13, 2006.