In August of this past summer, I had the privilege to attend the first ever Iowa Leadership Retreat held at Grinnell High School.
Numerous schools were in attendance to listen to a guest speaker, take different workshops, share a pizza lunch, and learn what it means to be a leader. This retreat, new this year, was a requirement for any student wanting to run for a position of the Iowa State Chapter Board.
The Retreat opened with an inspiring speech by Mr. Michael Hunter. He encouraged the listeners to "reach down, punch up". Reach down, find people among you to work with you and then together, punch up! Make big changes in places bigger places.
I spent the rest of my day teaching a joint leadership workshop with Abby Kurth, one of the six Iowa STOs. We focused on troupe dynamics, flexibility as leaders, delegation, and having some fun.
We played blindfold games, heard stories from all sorts of schools, and came up with ideas for increasing Junior Thespian troupes in Iowa. I absolutely loved hearing new ideas, eating some yummy pizza with new and old friends, and getting some time to brainstorm with my own troupe about the year.
Overall, this leadership retreat was an amazing experience. The participating students learned a lot, and I strongly believe that the event helped make the Iowa Thespian Festival as wonderful as it was. The candidates for the State Board were stronger and the thespians were inspired with power of leadership.