Leadership High alumni address graduating students at luncheon

Three Leadership High School alumni addressed students at this year’s graduation luncheon Wednesday in the Student Union Building Ballroom at Montana State University-Northern and reflected on their experiences and lessons they learned from being involved in the program.

“All of you are leaders of the next generation,” Havre business owner Sarah Manuel said, “and it doesn’t start after high school, it starts now.”

Leadership High School is a joint effort between the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce and Havre High School which enables high school juniors to get involved in community service projects. The program is open to 20 juniors each year and takes place for six months with one activity a month.

Manuel, owner of the Streatery, graduated from the Leadership High School program in 2014.

She said that it seems like a long time since she was in the program. However, she still remembers many of the activities she participated in, from touring local businesses and organizations to the key activities the program held to teach them teamwork and leadership skills.

One activity she said she remembers is the dominoes exercise. Manuel said that the exercise, which tasked the students to set hundreds of dominoes all up in one continuous line one at a time was frustrating.

She said the exercise was frustrating because all the dominoes had to fall on each other and they had 20 teenagers in one room all trying to be leaders at once.

The lesson they were supposed to learn was how to work as a team, rather than how to be in charge, she said.

“It was just to learn how to work together,” she said.

She said what she learned from the exercise was sometimes the most important part of being a leader: understanding how to be part of something larger to complete a common goal.

Manuel said that going forward students should actively practice humility, creativity, sincerity, authenticity, team building and vision casting. She added that those lessons have taken her far as an entrepreneur

“No matter what you are pursuing after the completion of this course, you have the tools required to make you a great leader,” she said.

She added that even though they may be graduating from the program does not mean their leadership training is over.

“You’re not finished,” Manuel said. “Now is the time to practice the attributes of great leaders, and I challenge you do develope together as a team.”

Dr. Kevin Harada said he was part of the first Leadership High School class in 2001.

He said when he first came back to Havre six years ago, he was excited to see the program was still going. The fact the program has lasted 19 years shows how commendable the community, business leaders and administrators are for keeping it going.

He said, after Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jody Olson asked him to speak at the luncheon, he looked back at his fellow students who were involved in the program. Since high school they have all gone their different ways professionally, Harada said, but one thing was constant.

“Although a lot of us chose different paths, the same fundamental leadership qualities are present in all of those fields,” he said.

One of the biggest things for him, he said, was the program made him think more broadly about college, careers, economy, politics and the needs in the community. He would have never thought about those things the way he does without the program, he said.

He said leaders are not only found at the heads of businesses or organizations, it applies to everyone.

“That could mean a senior to a freshman, a brother or a sister, a teammate, a colleague or even an audience,” he said. “So I’d ask you guys to always remember who is watching.”

He said that they should always assume other people are watching and set a good example.

“Ask yourself who you can mentor and who you can help,” he said.

He said the important things about being a leader to him are integrity, determination and reliability. These build trust wherever the students go in the future.

He said that in the medical field people have to become leaders in a short period of time. He added that they have a saying; “See one, do one, teach one.”

“I think this saying really incompasses what a true leader is,” he said. “In seeing one, always learn, listen and grow. Do one, get your hands dirty, try something new. Teach one, true leaders pass what they learned on to whoever wants to learn.”

Waddell & Reed financial adviser Jeremy Jensen said he was in the program in 2008 and is grateful for the support he received over the years.

“I think Leadership High School is a great program,” he said.

He said the main thing he benefited from personally was the support which came from the group, staff and community of Havre. But, he added, the most support he got was from his parents.

“They are your biggest support system and they are really trying to help you be the best person you can be,” Jensen said.

He added that he recently became a father and his looking forward to showing the same support to his child.

“Tell your support system, who’s here with you today, ‘Thank you,’ because they are here supporting you on your behalf,” Jensen said.

Montana State University-Northern Chancellor Greg Kegel told the graduates it is a great accomplishment of the staff, administration and the students to have the program.

“I really want to congratulate you guys that went through the program,” he said. “You got engaged and did it.”

On behalf of Northern, he said, he is giving the students $1,000 tuition waivers each.

“You gotta stay engaged,” Kegel said. “You got to stay on track and you got to get the ticket, because the ticket allows you to go vertically.”

He added that education has a high value and is the ticket to help students move up in the world.

Northern recently was named by Harvard University as the 15th best school in the nation for having their students move up in industries after graduation, he said. Kegel added that Northern’s graduates out-earn many other students from different universities and the university has a 100 percent placement rate.

He said Northern students have great opportunities, although he understands some students may not attend Northern. But all students should pursue a higher education if possible, he said.

“Keep doing what you’re doing. You’re on the right track,” he told the students.

Kegel and Olson presented twin brothers Jarah Kinsella and Joah Kinsella each with $500 scholarships, selecting them from a random drawing of the Leadership High School 2019 graduates.