The Ohio High School Athletic Association Foundation held its annual Student Leadership Conference at the Ohio Union on the campus of The Ohio State University Oct. 6. Bucyrus High School student-athletes representing the Football, Volleyball, Girls Tennis and Cross Country teams, as well as the Cheerleading squad, attended the daylong conference.
The conference featured several national keynote speakers discussing Qualities of Leadership, Personal Accountability, Thinking Like an Athlete, Leadership Development, Ingredients of Success and Distracted Driving.
Students also received information on the OHSAA project “Community Service and Your School.”
“This conference was important to develop and strengthen the leadership qualities those chosen individuals possess,” Bucyrus Athletics and Activities Director Rick Rawson said. “They are able to bring back those new learned skills to their respective teams.”
Ten student-athletes were selected by their respective head coaches, and included: Nick Kohler, John Metz, Zane Richardson, Izzy Burling, Alex Rule, Shaina Orweiler, Sidney Stevens, Mary Kate Heinle, Ashton Hawkins and Loarel Mollenkopf.
Two of the attendees, Loarel Mollenkopf and Zane Richardson, each learned different, yet important, lessons on leadership.
“Don’t take anything for granted and work as hard as possible,” senior Loarel Mollenkopf said. “If I never
give up, people will look at me and think ‘if she can do it, I can do it too.’”
“Stay out of trouble because everyone is watching you,” Zane Richardson said. “If you stay out of trouble and do the right things, good things can happen for you.”
Featured speakers during the event included Clay Hall, Bobby Carpenter, Joel Penton and several other national speakers.
“Quality student athletes are important to the district to create a well-rounded educational program,” Rawson said. “These leaders may someday be a part of our community and have children that attend Bucyrus. We want them to become positive role models to those around them now, and in the future.”
