Weekly Posts

Last week's post was about what kind of teams have you been on and how is helped you be a better leader?
Over the years I have been on many different teams, weather it be sports or school clubs.
In high school I was on the golf team, even though golf is an individual sport we were still a team and we supported each other, on and off the course! As a team, we helped each other out with golf skills such a putting (which I really needed help with the most) but we also helped each other when it came to school work. We were always there for each other. I feel that this helped me be a better leader because I knew that I would always have someone backing me up.

In college, I join the SIFE (students in free enterprise) my sophomore year. I joined to get more involved with the school and business programs. I am still currently in SIFE, because as a team we are "helping out one community at a time." In SIFE we are teaching others, weather it be elementary students or the elder, about simple business principles. Being part of this team has helped me become a better leader, because I am more confident in myself and by being part of this club I feel that I have started a great networking pool, which will hopefully become useful in the near future.

This week's posting-

I believe that if you have a goal about anything and you are serious about it, that makes you passionate which will eventually help you accomplish your goal. I believe that you can do anything you set your mind to! As a team, if one person is passionate about a goal and they are willing to show others why, then hopefully the others will become passionate about it as well. Accomplishing a goal is all about communication within the team as well making sure that all deadlines are meet on time!! There are so teams where you might not have the right people to accomplish the goals therefore you will need to find others to help out!! For a team to be successful I believe that everyone must have at least one MAIN common goal, communication and passion for what they are doing and passion for the reasons that they are doing it!! It's all about the teamwork and the team players!!

-Candace Walker

RECYCLING CENTER

I talked to Judy Payton, the director of the Recycling Center and it is open on every Saturday from 9:30 - 12:00. I explained our class project to her and asked about the possibility of having the center open on a Saturday afternoon, she said it would be better if it was in the morning, but did offer to run the center for the event from 10 - 2. She is going to send me a flyer covering items that are acceptable/unacceptable, I hope to have it in time to bring to class tonight.

Tires for Mulch

One of the fabulous women in our class thought of bringing in a company to turn used tires into mulch this Earth Day. This is a great idea. I priced how much they sell the stuff for, it runs about 15$ a square foot.
Here is a great article about using tires for mulch: http://toolmonger.com/2008/08/27/permanent-mulch-from-recycled-tires/

Here is the web-site of the company who makes the mulch. http://www.internationalmulch.com/ .

I see the benefits in the rubber mulch immediately. Every year my family orders a truck load of mulch to be dumped in our drive way, and every year we painstakingly spread it again and again spending more and more money as the wood chips shrink and decay. The minute that people invest in this mulch it starts paying for itsself!

I hope that we will be able to do something at our trash bash to incorporate the rubber mulch.

--
Emma Sawin

Weekly Post

Last weeks question was about what kind of teams you have been on and how has it helped you and made you a better leader?
I have been on many athletic teams in my life and school groups, but I think the one that has been most helpful for me has been Student Government here at BC. Over the past few years I have been on SG and that experience has helped me to become a better leader and has taught me how to lead a group efficiently and get things done. In college we all have very different schedules and agendas, by working with the others in my class we have to be flexible and get things done in a timely manner. Someone has to take the lead and get the ball rolling and I think I have learned how to get conversations started and moving.

This week we talk about tribes and the importance of building a coalition with your fellow members. Within a group it is vital that we all have the same ending goal and are able to work together to get there. If someone is not in line with everyone else it is going to bring the whole group down. The whole group needs to be open to everyone's ideas and work out the pros and cons of each. Building a strong team is important so that the team can really get to know one another and play off each others strengths and weaknesses.

Motivate-Connect-Leaverage

Author Seth Godin believes that a leader can help increase the effectiveness of the tribe and its members by transforming the shared interest into a passionate goal, provide tools to allow members to tighten their communications, and leverage the tribe to allow it to grown and gain new members. What do you think he means by this and how important is this concept to the ability to build a coalition.

Recycling

I read an interesting article in the Kansas City Star this morning. This explains how the current economic situation is affecting recycling. It doesn't talk about old computers and hardware like we discussed doing for our project in class but I am sure it will have an affect on that so we might want to research this a little.

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1024537.html

-Reed

Lucca Leadership North America

I hope those of you who were interested in the Lucca Leadership Weekend March 6-8th have finished filling out your applications. Please bring them to class on Wednesday. The Lucca Leadership weekend is such a great opportunity to take your leadership to the next level. Take a look at the Lucca Leadership website. I think you will like what you see.

http://www.luccaleadership.org/

-Anthony J. Martinez

Biography (Reed Berger)

My name is Reed Berger and I work in a family business in Atchison. I am the 4th generation working in our Leather and Textiles Company. We manufacture products such as knife sheaths and cotton aprons and also distribute leather raw material to companies that manufacture western goods, jean labels, and dog collars. We just finished up our 100th year in business in 2008.

I was born in Atchison and have lived here my entire life. Up until a few months after I graduated Kansas State in December of 2006, I lived with my parents in the same house since I was 1 year old. It is just up the street from my Grandparents house so I was very fortunate to be able to see my entire family on a daily basis growing up. I graduated from Atchison High School in 2002 and I have watched Atchison change over the years with community projects like the riverfront project, mall projects, and new schools being built.

I feel that Atchison is a very unique community that has much going for it. We have a strong support base of active community leaders who spend both time and money to improve the town for everybody that lives here. I look forward to working with everybody in this class to learn how other people perceive Atchison and how we can continue to improve the town to benefit everybody that lives here, including students.

A Nice Stroll through Downtown

It was an incredibly beautiful day today...around 60 degrees and sunny without a cloud in the sky. Winter, eh? Anyways, I had a couple of errands to run around town and figured I'd stay out for a while and walk around and enjoy the weather.

As I was walking around downtown, I found a lot of really cool things about Atchison I'd never seen or experienced before. First, one of the reasons for my journey, I needed to get a zipper fixed on a coat so I found the only tailor in town, a nice little Asian lady named "Chubby." Who knew? And she said she'd fix my jacket for twenty five bucks, a far cry from the forty I was going to be charged back at home in St. Louis!

After visiting Chubby, I 'took a stroll.' While I was walking, I really noticed how beautiful the downtown area is and how underused it seems to be. The thoughts of apartment housing and a vibrant night life came to mind...I think we could actually make downtown Atchison into something much more special than it already is. No immediate ideas right now, just seeing visions of grandeur.

So I stopped in to Ball Brothers, a nice little old time drug store with a restaurant. Who would have guessed that I could get a delicious Cookies n' Cream milkshake and a Cheese Tenderloin sandwich for a little over five bucks?!? The ladies working were so cordial and I had a blast "shootin the breeze" with them. I soon made my way to the local library to pick up some tax forms, but also ended up getting a library card and renting a couple of documentaries. Free movie rentals! Just think of all the money I've spent renting movies from netflix and Movie Gallery when I could have been getting them for free at the library!

Anyways, I greatly enjoyed Atchison today and was proud to say that I'm a member of the community and wanted to share a little bit of my day with everyone. Hopefully this finds you all doing well and enjoying the beautiful weather. Have a wonderful day!

---Justin

Chamber After Hours Tonight

Good Afternoon Everyone,

The Chamber After Hours is tonight from 5-7 at the Chamber. The Chamber is were we met our first night of class. After Hours is a chance for all the Chamber members to get together and catch up. Tonight a special invitation went out to all alumni of Leadership Atchison and our current class. Hope to see you all there!

Ashley

Bio and Atchison (Mick Hundley)

My name is Mick Hundley and I am the Development Director at Maur Hill - Mount Academy. I just finished my second year on the job, and it has been a very rewarding experience. I focus on fundraising for my high school by developing relationships with our alumni. I travel all over the country for work, and have met so many great people.
I was born and raised in Atchison, Ks. I graduated from Maur Hill Prep in 2002 and from the University of Missouri-Columbia in December 2006. After graduating from Mizzou, I was fortunate to be offered a job at my alma mater. It was a no-brainer for me to return back to my roots in Atchison. This is a great community, and I feel that my leadership qualities will continue to develop and broaden while I become an active member of the community.
Atchison is a very active town. Activities/events are constantly taking place in town. It is nice to see that happening. Atchison is also a place of opportunity in my opinion. There are good jobs in town, and extra-curricular opportunites to partake in. That is why I wanted to come back to Atchison. Involvement is the key. Leadership is very imprortant to me and I know this class will have an impact on me.

Teams

In our next class we will be discussing teams and how important they are in accomplishing tasks. What teams are you been on? What did you accomplish? What kind of impact did they have on your life?

The greatest team that I have been a part of was working with the Center for Civic Leadership. I learned a lot about leadership and what it takes to get things done. The biggest lesson was how to lead from within. No one was going to pull your weight, it was entirely up to you. We accomplished a lot and it was vary rewarding to be a part of a team that knew how to get things done.

The Inauguration and USA Service

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the inauguration of our 44th President, Barack H. Obama with some fellow BC students. It was truly an exciting occasion that I was fortunate to be at. I had never seen so many people in my life. There had to be close to 2 million people at the event. We had to wake up at 3 AM, just to get a decent spot. I wouldn't recommend standing in the cold for a whole day. Come to think of it, I don't think anyone there liked being in the cold all day. But the nearly two million in attendance saw something great, the peaceful transfer of power in democracy. What people saw, the inauguration of Obama as President, was possible because of a well managed grass roots campaign. That campaign relied upon a strong aspect of connectivity, mainly through the net. It also relied upon a huge network of volunteers around the country.

Fortunately the expertise of the Obama campaign is continuing into his presidency. It is continuing in a way that goes beyond the different political views of those in this great country and puts an emphasis on service. President Obama has introduced a grass roots effort to better the communities that we live in. I encourage each of you to check out USA Service at http://usaservice.org/content/home/. It is truly an amazing tool that enables people to host and find different community events around this country. This is a great leadership tool.

-Anthony J. Martinez

Weekly Post

I am looking forward to class tonight to work on choosing our class project!
I hope that we are able to find something that is somewhat interesting to everyone
and something that we will be able to see through from start to finish. I would like to
choose a project that will be around for years to come so that we can see Atchison and the
community grow and know that we have done something to give back to a place that
has given each of us something.

Atchison & Bio

This picture is a view of Atchison from historic Jackson Park. It presents a view of a town that is more scenic and more historical than other Kansas towns. This is one of my favorite views of the city.

Here we see the heart of Atchison from main street. In the distance you can see MGP. This is a view that so many BC students are used to seeing, as it is on the way to Wal-Mart.

To me, Atchison is a small Kansas town that goes beyond the common stereotypes of small town America. It is a very industrial town, but there are business aspects as well. People from around the world admire the quality of some of the large, stately, historic homes in this community.


I am originally from Topeka and am a senior majoring in International Business and plan on graduating this semester. I am blessed to have a great family back in Topeka. Community involvement has always been important to me throughout my life. In high school, I was involved in many different clubs and organizations. I was fortunate enough to be a member and President of the Topeka Youth Council, which acted as the mayor's youth advisory council. We advocated our agenda to the mayor and city council. As a member of the Topeka Youth Council, I was a founding member of the Topeka Shawnee County Youth Court. I was able to work my way up to being a judge.

While at Benedictine, I have been fortunate enough to be involved in many different organizations. I am the treasurer of the Young Democrats, Chairman of the Thomas M. Hoenig Student International Business Council (SIBC), and Vice President of the Hispanic American Leadership Organization (HALO). I am also a member of the Jimmy Martinez Chapter of the GI Forum and am on the team of Lucca Leadership North America (LLNA).

Perhaps my most significant involvement has been in the SIBC. I recently finished my term as President of the council, which exists to promote "Peace through Commerce". The organization works to do what is essentially international business consulting. It works to give students leadership opportunities that truly make a difference in the world, specifically with the aim of enhancing the capabilities of businesses that have socially responsible goals, particularly in the third world.

To me, leadership is a hard thing to define by words. I have traveled around the world to grasp what leadership is yet every time that I am asked what leadership is, I use different words to describe just what leadership is. I feel that to me leadership is many things. Leadership is awareness. Leadership is being patient. Leadership is being ethical. Leadership is knowing what to do in a given situation. Leadership is being humble. Leadership is knowing my own weaknesses. Leadership is empowering others to lead.

I am taking this class because I really do want to offer my skills and knowledge to the community. I also take this class with the knowledge that learning is a continual quest. I am aware of my own weaknesses and want to utilize this class as a means of improving my own capabilities to better lead.

-Anthony J. Martinez

What makes the Steelers Great?

Here is a great story about the leadership of the STEELERS owner Dan Rooney.
Is there any doubt who will win on Sunday? Go Steelers!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/sports/football/27rooney.html?_r=1

When you get right down to it any town or city is the sum of it's people. These shown here, my children are only a fraction of what makes Atchison, Atchison. Every generation has a unique responsibility to only make the community we live a better place today, but a better place for the generation following. Those ideas have to be instilled in our children or we end up in a dead end as a community. There is so much potential in Atchison. Not only as a community but also as a beacon, to say this is how we should be living. For those how don't know me I'm Chris Sandlin shipping lead at Atchison by BIC. I've lived in Atchison for nine years now and have started becoming more active in the community.

Service Project

At our next class we are going to be deciding what our community service project should be for the semster. I have done a few service projects in my day. They are the kind of projects that can be great if they are done with passion and simplicity. Sometime projects are over thought and turn out to be such a monumentaly task that it never gets accomplished. Try to think about the greater good and what the community could really benefit from. I believe that this class will do something GREAT!

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.