Thoughts from the Man Cave

The 2010-11 Leadership Lake Norman Class came up with the idea to create a junior version of the program.

Behind the ScenesBusiness

Junior leadership lake norman program

by Renee Roberson photography courtesy of Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce When Bill Russell first joined the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce as president in 1997, one of his first directives was to put together a leadership program that area business owners and leaders could take part in. Drawing elements from other leadership programs in North and South Carolina, Leadership Lake Norman soon took shape, emerging as an eight-month program where participants could learn more about healthcare, economic development, nonprofits, and more. Since its inception, 529 community and business leaders have enrolled in the program. When Huntersville resident Tricia Sisson participated in Leadership Lake Norman in 2010-11, she and other members had the idea of creating a junior version of the program.

“A core group of us got together and thought, this program is really good,” she says. “Students in the community need to know about this. If they became engaged enough, they could return to the area after graduation and become business leaders.” Rather than reinventing the program, they only needed to reapply the seminar topics and presentations about government, civics, education, nonprofits and more to the students.

The group brainstormed how they could streamline the process for accepting applications, reaching out to area schools to see if they might be interested in sharing the information with their students. They decided to design the program for high school juniors, and each member of the Leadership Lake Norman adult class would take on planning of an individual session.

The pilot class for Junior Leadership Lake Norman began in 2011-2012, with Sisson’s daughter Kaitlyn Cobb being an inaugural member. The program accepts 18-20 students and is an in-depth study of management styles, personalities, and involved

activities to illustrate positive leadership opportunities. It takes place over an eight-month period and the students tour facilities and participate in informative seminars led by area leaders in business, government, media, education, healthcare, and tourism. The program typically kicks off with a day-long retreat at Historic Rural Hill in early fall as well as a graduation ceremony in April. The presenting sponsor for the program is Novant Health and PDQ generously feeds the students lunch each month. Participants are allowed only one absence from the program and must attend all other events to graduate.

Cobb says participating in Junior Leadership Lake Norman helped her fall more in love with the local community.

She graduated from UNC-Charlotte and wanted to remain close to home after graduation. She and her husband now live in the area, and she works as a senior accounting analyst in the Northlake area. Some of the highlights of the program for her were touring the PARC in Huntersville and Saertex, along with visiting Town Hall in Huntersville and Discovery Place Kids. She enjoyed getting to know so many area business leaders and working with her class on collecting toys and books for Children’s Hope Alliance as a group project.

Each Lake Norman Junior Leadership Class is chosen by a selection committee comprised of members of the Lake Norman Chamber and Alumni of the Lake Norman Chamber Business Leadership program and will represent diverse students in the community from public, private, and charter schools.

Applicants must have an unweighted G.P.A. of 3.2, a teacher/community leader recommendation, an exceptional attitude, and be a rising junior from a Lake Norman area high school. For information on applying for the next class, visit www.lakenormanchamber.org this summer.

2021-2022

Lake Norman Junior Leadership Class

Cannon School

Anna Dula

Community School of Davidson

Matthew Alge Molly Bradford Laurel Coughlin Carrie Griffin Sophia Kritzer Kaitlyn Martinez Jack McMillan Lulu Scuggs Patrick Simon Harshiv Singh Jessica Teckenbrock Leah Whiteside

Hough High School

Andrew Burk Sydney Peete

Lake Norman Charter School

Sofia Blasucci Sarah Neely Max Schwanz Luke Thompson

Lake Norman High School

Mya Zile

Into the Unknown

a Backyard greenWay adventure can Begin, Well, right Where you Want it to…

by Mike Savicki photography by by Afterburner Communications

Truth be told, when I think of greenways and trails, I think of high mountains, scenic overlooks, and cold rivers and streams. I think of being alone in nature, miles upon miles of solemnity, emptiness, and quiet. I think of Appalachia with the Smokies and the Blue Ridge. I think of the Rockies and crossing the Sierra Nevada. The Pacific Coast Trail, too. Between you and me, I don’t really think of the land between I-77, Hwy. 73, and Catawba Avenue in Cornelius as being worthy of even a mention in the discussion.

But when I happened to catch a glimpse of the signage marking the entrance to a new section of the McDowell Creek Greenway, I tried to reframe my bias. I let my mind envision where that trail might take me both literally and figuratively. I love exercising and exploring but I’m not a huge fan of doing it on public roads and oftentimes fragmented sidewalks so I wondered if this very thing might be the alternative I’ve been craving. While trying to connect the dots and draw a mental map in my mind, I wondered if simply breaking out of my normal routine and rolling in a new direction on a new path might catalyze my sense of wonder and rekindle my need to explore and discover.

It was about that time I connected with my outdoorsy and active friend, Danny Tobias, husband to Jillian, father of three, and CFP founder of Passport Wealth Management. The Tobias family lives in an adjoining Cornelius neighborhood and I had a hunch they might be better aware of what lies beyond the trailhead signage. I asked him if he had explored it since it recently opened.

“Actually, the first times we went out on the trail it was still being built,” Tobias begins. “Alongside neighborhood kids, as we all inspected and monitored the construction, it’s fair to say our excitement grew and grew.

“So, when it actually opened, the kids, especially, felt like it was already theirs. It was like they felt connected,” he says.

I asked Tobias for his first impressions.

“It’s not a world away but what I find it does do is give us that ability to walk out our door and do our activities without having to get in our car,” he explains. “It removes the stress that comes with having to cross a busy street alone—or with kids—and it moves us that much closer to nature, adding a level of relaxation and peacefulness even as we are never far from seeing nearby neighborhoods and homes.”

Points well taken.

His answer got us thinking about how most people in the world don’t rely on cars like Americans do. Whether they live in more urban areas where the surroundings are better suited to walking