Team LEAD at the Jr./Sr. High School is not your ordinary school club.
Its members, students in grades 9-12, don’t join based on self-interest alone. Rather, they are selected to participate.
At the beginning of each school year, faculty and staff members submit the names of students to Mr. Saxton, Jr./Sr. High School principal, and Mrs. Kemp, club advisor, they feel are ideal candidates for Team LEAD. If not already a strong leader, recommended students often have the potential to become one and are already positive role models, academically sound and active in our school community. 
Typically, five students from the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades are selected to be a part of Team LEAD. Once members, students immediately get to work. In addition to instilling important leadership qualities in students, Team LEAD strives to give back through a variety of community service initiatives. One of the school club’s biggest objectives is to develop and maintain a positive school culture and identify areas in need of change. The group also encourages students who may be a bit shy to become more active.
“Some are quiet while others are a little more boisterous, some are leaders in the classroom, some are leaders in athletics and some are just true leaders,” Mrs. Kemp said of Team LEAD’s members. “It’s always a good mix.”
On February 26, Team LEAD participated in a “Legacy Now” workshop in the Jr./Sr. High School library presented by Gary Ford, a retired area teacher. The workshop includes a variety of character building activities that, along with strong character, stresses teamwork and leadership. It culminated with an activity asking students to act out skits detailing how leadership is important to form a viable solution.
“One of the things we stressed was ‘see something, say something,’ or getting them to speak up and getting others to feel comfortable enough to speak up about important issues,” Mrs. Kemp said. “I feel like a lot of staff members have made a lot of good connections with students - - more than ever - - but sometimes students still do not speak up when they should. We are trying to get to the root of that.”
While senior Angelo Carletta did not participate in this particular workshop, he has before. The lessons learned have stuck with him.
“I first participated in 'Legacy Now' at BOCES during my freshman year,” Angelo said. “A lot of it is designed to push us out of our comfort zone… to teach us what it is to be a leader.”
Fellow senior Danielle Flack participated in the workshop again. She, too, learned more about what it means to be a true leader. But, she also learned the importance of pushing others to succeed.
“Even if you are a leader, it doesn’t mean that everybody else should just follow you,” Danielle said. “You should still encourage everybody to become their own leader. Even you can be a follower at times. You just have to learn how to tell which groups are the right ones to follow.”
Team LEAD is staying busy. Leading up to Christmas, the school club created a “giving tree.” Located in the Jr./Sr. High School library for two weeks, students and staff members were asked to donate presents by hanging them on or placing them below the tree. The gifts, ranging from hats and gloves to toys to even a few monetary donations, were then given to the Westmoreland Kiwanis Club, which distributed them to some of the less fortunate families in our community. Another “giving tree” was created in January to benefit the Humane Society of Rome.
This spring, Team LEAD is working with the Jr./Sr. High School SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) club on its STOP DWI campaign.
“We are always trying to get kids to do more for others,” Mrs. Kemp said.