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PCA Participates In Inaugural Forney ISD Student-Athlete Leadership Summit

08.02.2018


LEAD19, the inaugural Forney ISD Student-Athlete Leadership Summit, is in the books! Forney ISD, a long-time partner of PCA-North Texas, launched this leadership summit to prepare incoming seniors for the school year ahead.

LEAD19 was designed to be THE BEGINNING of the class of 2019 senior student-athletes journey into the final chapter in high school athletics, and PCA was able to fit into what Forney ISD had already planned with their student-athletes. Forney ISD took the lead in involving PCA, as the principles in the PCA workshop 'Making Teammates Better' fit perfectly into the summit. The summit focused on servant leadership to engage an entire senior class in legacy building through influence, and most importantly, to discuss the power of preparation for positive choices.

Over 200 Forney ISD emerging-seniors engaged during LEAD19 with FISD Athletics staff, Forney community leaders, board members, administration, and head coaches. Five dynamic presenters, including PCA Trainer Matt Grahn, gave lessons on leadership, service, and topics related to Student Leadership roles. Grahn specifically touched on how the incoming senior class could create a welcoming environment for the incoming freshman that will have their first high school experience.


It is now time for them to begin the transition to Senior Year.

Throughout the day, speakers engaged attendees on specific topics such as “On Purpose, For A Purpose,” “Making Teammates Better,” Servant Leadership as defined by the book The Captain Class, the “Power of Influence,” and other themes related to participation in FISD Athletics.  At each roundtable, a mix of students from both high schools, community leaders, and head coaches followed up each talk with guided discussions on how to apply these characteristics on campus.  Great feedback from students and adults alike showed this to be the start of something truly special in Forney ISD.


This was the FIRST and ONLY senior-student-athlete Leadership Summit of its kind! It was an awesome day, and Forney – kids, coaches, and community – hit it out of the park!

Student takeaways showed us that the core messages of LEAD19 were received:

“Talent has nothing to do with the ability to be a good leader or captain, a good leader is someone who thinks about others before themselves.”

“Don’t be a bystander, be an upstander.”

“Leaders eat last!”

“You cannot stumble into leadership – it has to have a plan and purpose.”