Do Something Club
Five Emporia elementary-school students are featured on the national Web site of the “Do Something Club.”
Photographs on the site show Tyrus Beam, Marcos Diaz, Devawn Mitchell, Charles Ramirez and Dylan Schlote surrounded by toys they collected in a holiday toy drive for “kids whose parents might not be able to get them things,” Dylan said in a Gazette interview in December.
The boys, who attend Logan Avenue School, formed the club in the fall, under the direction of Carla Fessler, student support specialist at Logan.
To maintain membership, the five-member club must complete two projects during the school year and submit photographs and synopses of the projects to the national organization. They also must be positive role models for other students by displaying responsible and respectful behavior, Fessler said.
The successful toy drive brought them to the attention of the national organization.
Since then, the club has sold school supplies to finance purchase of two trees for the school, Fessler said.
A staff member recently suggested they might want to raise money to help replace the diesel engine and drive motors for The Little Train at Soden’s Grove. The boys assumed the project, sent out information to parents and, with one week to go in their penny war drive, already have collected about $800. Their project spurred other elementary schools here to join in.
“We had a really neat thing happen,” Fessler said. “We had a couple who had kids in Logan Avenue in the ‘70s, and they called and said they wanted to give money to our penny wars.”
The couple donated $25 to each class, for a total of $225, she said.
— Bobbi Mlynar
Wichita State honors
Wichita State University has announced the names of about 1,900 students who were on the WSU dean’s honor roll for fall 2006. Emporia students on the list include: Jennifer Hailey, Stephanie Hammerl, Kelli Helms, Christina Lowe, Stephanie Miller, Samuel Moore, Jamie Odle and David Sprecker.
To be included on the dean’s honor roll, a student must be enrolled full time (at least 12 credit hours) and earn at least a 3.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.
WSU enrolls about 14,000 students and offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in six undergraduate colleges.
KU leaders
Two local students are among 56 University of Kansas students who have graduated from the 2007 LeaderShape Institute, sponsored and coordinated annually by KU’s Student Involvement and Leadership Center.
The local students are Pamela Sue Old of Allen, a senior accounting major and daughter of Richard and Josie Old who graduated from Wabaunsee Senior High School in Alma, and Hali Baker of Council Grove, a junior news and information major and daughter of David and Cheerie Baker who graduated from Council Grove High School.
The six-day intensive program to develop leadership abilities took place Jan. 10-15 during KU’s winter break at the Tall Oaks Conference Center near Linwood.
KU has sponsored the LeaderShape Institute since 1998.
During training, KU students work in groups to create ideas for projects, then refine goals, plans and implementation strategies to accomplish those ideas within their own organization, living group, community or workplace. They learn about leadership styles and work through simulations of situations they could face.