My name is Keith Jaloma. I have been working at BC for ten years and currently have two children attending the college. I have a third child at Butler and have three younger children. "Blessed beyond what I deserve" is how I describe my life.

My children are my most valuable asset. They should learn from me and my leadership abilities, time spent developing those skills and putting that skill to use.

There is a balance between quality time with the family and giving to the community. I have found the most successful people I know are involved in community service as a leader outside of their families.

Leadership is doing.

Atchison, KS

These pictures are maybe the two main things that you can do in atchison. Wal-Mart is one of the main places many college kids at least go here more than once a week sometimes even twice in the same day. The Royal Theatre is where you can go watch movies even though they only have two screens so if you don't want to go to Kansas and pay 10 dollars or more you can wait until the movie you want to see and only pay 6 dollars to get in.

My name is Allison Hallesy I'm a senior in college and my major is Business Adminstrtion with a concetraion in Human Resource mangament. What I hope to get out of this class is a better understanding of being a good leader and to learn more on how to become a better leader.

Their Atchison- Not Ours

Note: I apologize in advance for not including any pictures in this. I'm hoping that by substituting a few thousand words' worth of articles, I can paint a clearer picture of Atchison for you.

Atchison is a small Kansas town, population ~11,000 and slowly declining. It has a median income of 35,000 dollars per household. It has an average population distribution. It’s a small, quiet, conservative town where people will learn your name and use it, and where people will turn out in large numbers to preserve the name of Division Street, a relic of the segregation era. It is a town dominated by its Wal-Marts and chain restaurants.

In other words, it is just like any other town in Kansas. It is unremarkable. Oh, there’s history if you dig deep enough. The town has its heroes, some beautiful architecture, even a few major tourist traps. I hear we have a pretty nice College somewhere around here.

But here’s the thing- that’s not Atchison. Atchison isn’t the BC students or the business leaders or the Chamber of Commerce. We live and move in a different world from the majority of people in this small town, and we’d do well to remember that.

The real Atchison community is defined by a quiet struggle to survive, day in and day out. It’s no jungle out there, but it isn’t exactly middle management either. Whole generations have grown up with inadequate education, low-paying jobs, and little insurance. The social safety net no longer exists for most. People work two or more minimum wage jobs at a time, always one hospital emergency away from absolute poverty.

It’s a town with a drug problem. It’s a town with rising crime rates. It’s not a town full of crazed rednecks- just ill-educated, stressed, hard working people who want their children to have more than they did. It’s a town with rising unemployment and shuttered businesses.

In other words it’s a town just like any other town in Kansas.

These are hard things to think about, let alone address. But we cannot avoid them. In our positions, we do not often see these problems and sometimes neither do the people who experience them, because they’re so commonplace as to be unremarkable. But they are remarkable problems, and they need remarkable leadership to correct.

We in this class are in a unique place. By virtue of our degrees and our experience, maybe by birth, maybe by hard work , we may have little or no contact with this world. But due to those very same circumstances, these are inevitably the people we will be placed in charge of no matter what we wind up doing.

If we truly wish to lead- or even if we find ourselves in that position by coincidence- it is our responsibility to understand the challenges facing those we guide. We must focus on solving their problems, not simply our own, if we truly wish to become community leaders.

My Bio and My Atchison

Good day to you, my name is Justin Manion and I'm a junior at Benedictine College. I'm a business major with concentrations in Entrepreneurship, Management, and Marketing and a minor in Music. I'm originally from St. Louis, Missouri and have enjoyed my time in Atchison. I've obviously spent most of my time on Benedictine's campus, but I've also held jobs all around the area. From being a waiter at Berg's at Pineview to working at Raven Rock Miniature Golf Course to rentals and lift attendant at Snow Creek to waiter at Cedar Ridge to being a General Maintenance and Repair Technician at the Atchison Juvenile Correctional Facility to teaching guitar lessons to running my own recording studio, I've been fortunate to meet many wonderful people and to call this place home.

The photo to the left is a picture taken from "Abbey Land," a section of land owned by the Abbey which lies north of the college's campus. This is an area where students can explore and spend time relaxing in nature, a place where my friends and I have had some memorable experiences. As well, the Missouri River can be seen in this picture.

Continuing with the trend of the Missouri River, I've spent quite a bit of time on and around the river fishing. My favorite type of fishing is catfishing, and as you can see in the picture to the right, I've had a decent amount of luck. This is certainly one of my favorite parts of Atchison, the close proximity to such great catfishing holes! In this picture you can also see the Amelia Earhart Bridge, the most used portal in and out of our beloved Atchison!

My final picture describing my Atchison experience is a picture of Durell Anthony, a graduate of Benedictine and an Atchison native, in my recording studio. I greatly enjoy music, especially the production aspect of it, so I decided to start my own studio where I can teach myself to produce and record music in a somewhat professional manner. I've spent quite a considerable amount of time in the room you see to the left, a practice room in Bishop Fink Hall where the portable studio makes its home. If you'd like to get a taste of some of the music that has been recorded in this studio, visit www.myspace.com/glorybluemusic (my former band) or www.myspace.com/durellanthony (a good friend of mine who can seriously sing).

Thank you for following this blog and for reading my portion. I believe this class and project of Leadership Atchison 2009 is really going to be a great thing...let's make something great happen!

---Justin Manion

My Atchison

I am Candace Walker. I am currently a senior at Benedictine College, majoring in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. I am currently involved in SIFE at BC. After graduation, I am hoping to continue my education by getting another degree in Fashion Merchandising and Design. With these degrees I hope one day to have my own "Fashion" Personal Shopper Store/Service. I grew up in Overland Park, Kansas and went to high school at Blue Valley Northwest, where I was involved with FBLA and on the golf team.

To the left is a picture of Flyers, which is located on the Missouri River. Flyers is a small bar and grill open to everyone. Dining at Flyers is just amazing because you have the beautiful view of the river. I believe that Flyers is a part of Atchison, because there are quite a few entrepreneur shops and restaurants in Atchison. For being such a small town, I think that that is amazing.

To the right is a picture of the Amelia Earhart Bridge. This is part of Atchison because first of all it is one of the ways to get into Atchison, but it also has so much more meaning. I don't know the complete history about it. The bridge represents Amelia Earhart, since she was born and raised here. On top of the bridge is a "searchlight" hoping that one day they will find Amelia Earhart and bring her home. Atchison has so many great stories to tell and has so much history, that a lot of Benedictine Students and maybe even the citizens of Atchison don't know about.

GREAT BOOK -- TRIBES by Seth Godin

I am reading a GREAT book on Leadership called TRIBES by Seth Godin. We will talk more about it on Wed. January 28th! You can find out more and access some neat Leadership resources here:
http://www.sethgodin.com
http://www.squidoo.com/tribebuilding

See you all tomorrow!

My Atchison

This is a view of Main Street on the 6th Street Bridge. As the name implies, this is the main route through Atchinson. There are many stores, restaurants, and banks that line the street. I feel like this is a major part of Atchinson and that it should be kept that way.

This is a view from the cemetery on the northwest side of town. It shows the residential area of Atchinson and in the distance is the industrial area. This shows the small town atmosphere that is the identity of Atchinson. I come from a town a little smaller than Atchinson so I love the small town feel and the close-knit community that accompanies a small town.

Peter Malkori Speaker

Peter Malkori came to speak to the Atchison and Benedictine communities this past Sunday evening in anticipation of Martin Luther King Jr. day and the inauguration of America's first black President. Through Peter's big smile and thick accent, all that attended learned much.

Peter began life in Kenya, Africa. He gave his life for journalism, freedom of speech and the betterment of his community. Peter was arrested eight times for fictitious accusations of crime for which he spent ten months in prison. After leaving prison through the help of the government, Peter was granted political asylum. Immediatly after leaving prison, h continued to offer his life for social harmony, one of the many things he has done was testify in court in favor of human rights.
The main point of Peters talk was that no matter what race, or what continent, all people should strive for universal justice. After his talk peter took questions from the audience. One of the questions pertained to Barack Obama and if he would unify the many ethnic origins that are in America. Peter stated that Barack Obama is proof that the African American community can rise in the American society and unify more and more. Peter also states during the question time that he believes that American journalism is more focused on the celebrities then on the world news.
I couldn't agree more with that statement. The talk was a wonderful testement to Africans everywhere and I hope that more people from the Atchison community will attend more of the wonderful and enlightening speakers that are brought to Benedictine through our many resources.

My Atchison

Bio

My name is Emma Lou and I am a freshman at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. I am originally from Papillion, Nebraska. When I first came to Atchison, seeing all of the cornfields were comforting to me as they reminded me of home. Little did I know that after only one semester I would fall in love with this little town and call it home.

I am studying Business with a concentration in entrepreneurship. I was home schooled for high school and graduated a year early. During high school I participated in many things, some of which include horseback riding including western and english disciplines, jumping and barrel racing. I also volunteered much of my time at my home parish, planning things for the pro-life movement.

My Atchison

The picture to the left is of the Missouri river. I chose to write about the river because it is close to my heart being a Benedictine student. The "lookout" which overlooks the river, is frequented by students and guests for picnics, a place to go to clear your mind, romantic chats on the bench and the occasional proposal. The river is beautiful but also dangerous. A freshman named John Paul Forge who attended Benedictine College was killed this past semester after finals week. He fell off of the bridge after getting out of the vehicle to inspect damage after being in a car accident. An oncoming vehicle spun out of control and was going to hit him so he jumped out of the way and fell into the icy cold water of the Missouri. Without going into the full details of the accident, I will say that the river is obviously dangerous and the accident I described was not the only one of it's kind. Another thing that contributes to these accidents is the poor conditions of the bridges that accompany the river.

To the left is the local Amelia Earhardt bridge, which in my opinion is too narrow, in poor condition and a hazard to the local community. The bridge has been in poor repair for years and is in need of major repairs. My hope is that Benedictine students and the Atchison community can fix this hazard and eye sore as a community and team.

To the right is one of the prides of Atchison, it's beautiful historic homes that have been lovingly restored and kept. The house is on the national historical registry and, in my opinion is one of the things that makes Atchison a nice community to live in.

My Atchison...

My name is Lydia Buechler and I am a senior at Benedictine College. At Benedictine I am studying Business Administration with an emphasis in management and my second major is Spanish. I live off-campus in Atchison and really love living in the town. I am originally from Omaha, NE and went to Duchesne Academy high school. I am the second oldest of my parents 8 children. I am planning a wedding that is to take place on November 7 of this year to Jorge Cruz who also attended Benedictine, but graduated 2 years ago. After I graduate I just want to get a job!

I am hoping to learn a lot from the community members that are in our class. I am hoping that as I go into my leadership roles after college and I am able to take things that I have learned from this class with me and use it. Implying what I learn from others and how to better the community not only personally, but also see how businesses can get involved as well.

Leadership to me is being able to lead and follow. A good leader is someone who can guide a group and a situation, but also is someone who can be apart of the group and follow that main leader.


The first picture I have is of the Amelia Earhart bridge. That bridge lead me to Benedictine and Atchison and the first time I crossed it I thought that this place was not going to be for me. Such a small town and in the middle of nowhere. Now when I cross that bridge it tells me that I am home.






My next picture may be cliche, but Benedictine really is what Atchison is to me. It is the place I have spent the past four years of my life and a place I have come to know and love and call home. Benedictine is a great part of Atchison and really adds a special element to the town.

Remeber Bring your pictures on Wednesday Evening!

Remember to bring your pictures of our community to class on Wednesday evening! Post them if you can to.