March 31, 2005

Students’ projectsbenefit community

By Lauren Heaton

In the process of learning to be leaders, the 11 members of this year’s Leadership Institute of Yellow Springs graduating class have initiated three projects that could lead the village into developing an eco-friendly burial site, a theater arts fund and a volunteer awareness program.

The students believe the projects can benefit the village beyond their April 9 graduation.

Students in the Leadership Program learn to be leaders by establishing a group with a mission and cooperating and negotiating with each other to accomplish that mission, according to Jan Ruddell, a member of the board of Leadership Yellow Springs who is also a graduate of the program. In many cases, the group’s mission is something the members want to see happen in Yellow Springs.

“The students’ success does not depend on a particular project outcome. The process is the product in this case,” Ruddell said. “But we’ve had some unique, very creative projects that have come about as part of the learning process.”

Since the beginning of the leadership course last fall, students Gary Zaremsky, Megan Quinn, Florence Randolph and Joseph Foster have been planning a green burial site in Yellow Springs. Zaremsky, the project leader, conceived of the idea to establish a natural memorial park to encourage burial without the use of chemical embalming or caskets. Graves will be marked by natural headstones, and the grounds will remain wild, giving families the freedom to plant trees and shape their own site, Quinn said.

Group members first researched other green memorial sites around the country. Then, to get a sense of what villagers might want, they conducted a survey of 150 Yellow Springers. Of the half who responded, two-thirds indicated interest in the project, half said they would consider giving financial support and about 15 percent were interested in getting involved, according to a written summary of the survey results.

Though the park is still in the conceptual stage, the student group concluded from the survey that there was enough interest to proceed. After graduation they hope to hold a community meeting to talk about options, share the survey results and invite more people to get involved in making the park a reality.

The institute’s weekly classes, which are two to three hours, gave Quinn the skills for collaboration, initiative and conflict resolution she felt her group needed to accomplish its goals, she said.

“The emphasis was for us to be aware of the process of interaction and to reflect on that throughout the project,” she said. “It’s a great service to the community to have this program.”

A second group of students focused on the feasibility of establishing an endowment for the local theater arts program. Hardy Ballantine, whose three children participated in Yellow Springs High School theater productions, said he has wanted for years to create a fund to ensure that regardless of budgetary needs, the local schools would always have a strong drama program.

To start, Ballantine and Kristen and Jeffrey Lucas spearheaded an effort to raise $20,000 to purchase a lighting board and several sets of risers to turn the Mills Lawn School stage into a “suitable performance space,” Ballantine said.

They’ve planned the first fundraising event as a curtain warmer of desserts and champagne on opening night of the YSHS spring musical, A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine. The event will take place at the Arthur Morgan House Bed and Breakfast from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 16.

The students planned the event and mailed 386 letters to parents of past drama club members. They hope that enthusiasm generated by the high school’s comic production will encourage supporters to donate money for the lights and start thinking about a more long-term fund for the theater, Ballantine said.

The institute’s third group organized a system to publicize in the News the need for volunteers for specific village organizations. Sharon Luster, Deena Kent-Hummel, John Fleming and Virgil Hervey surveyed 30 organizations that use volunteers about ways to publicize their groups’ needs, Luster said. The students decided to publish a regular ad featuring two organizations and the type of volunteers needed.

The ads will begin next week. Rodney Bean, the director of the Senior Center, has expressed interest in continuing to manage the effort once the initial pilot program is finished.

Luster said her experience with the Leadership Institute helped her to understand and better cope with the different personalities and work styles group members bring to a project. She also found that the more leadership skills all members of a group exhibit, the better an organization will function, she said.

A total of 31 people have graduated from the Leadership Institute since it started three years ago, Ruddell said. A majority of the participants are Yellow Springs residents with a history of active community participation who want to increase their skills and become more empowered to achieve the goals within their organizations, she said. The one-year course costs $100, and the institute does not refuse students who cannot afford to pay.

“The ultimate benefit of the program is to encourage and increase participation in the community in every sense,” Ruddell said. “Leadership includes participation for the bottom line.”