The Leadership East Texas (LET) hosted a graduation ceremony on Wednesday, April 17, at the Cleveland ISD Administration Office, to applaud the hard-earned achievements of 24 LET graduates from across Liberty, Polk, East Montgomery and San Jacinto counties. This unique program, now in its third year, is designed to impart crucial leadership skills to the next generation of community leaders.
This year’s graduates are Ronna Baker, Toby Belt, Priscilla Chorman, Lacy Cooper-Bell, Kathryn Crapo, Misty Dulaney, Missy Eichman, Darlene Elmore, Tiffanie Follrod, Holly Goodman, Lacy Green, Roberta Guillot, Brandice Keel, Christopher Keng, Sherial Lawson, Susie Little, Nancy Lopez, Diane Mayhew, Alexia McCulloch, Wendy McNair, Shelley Rena, Heidi Soles, Christina Strong and Stephania Ward. All but two of the graduates attended the graduation ceremony.
Emceeing the event, Cleveland City Manager Scott Swigert expressed high hopes for the graduating class, saying, “We’ve had a lot of great success the first two years, so we’re expecting a lot of great things out of this graduating class. And looking at this class, I know that you will be successful and that you will be great.”
Swigert emphasized the need for outstanding leaders in various organizations, from cities to school districts, and spoke about their potential roles in shaping the future of these organizations.
A pivotal aspect of the LET program is the mentorship provided to the students. They have the opportunity to learn from seasoned leaders within and beyond Liberty County, gaining insights from school superintendents and city administrators, among others. It is hoped that this hands-on approach prepares them to navigate the challenges of leadership effectively.
Graduates of the program also have the opportunity to be part of a LET Alumni Association, where they can get peer-to-peer mentoring from other former graduates of the program.
The guest speaker at this year’s graduation ceremony was State Rep. Ernest Bailes (District 18), who encouraged the graduates to consider the possibility of holding political office in their county in the hope of enacting positive changes. Bailes spoke his experiences in attending two leadership academies simultaneously as a young man and shared the lessons he gleaned from both.
“You have to be willing to serve. You’ve got to make the choice: is it service above self and why are you ultimately doing it? Why does it matter? That’s why you guys took this program. You took it to learn how to lead and to give back. It is about service over self. That is every aspect of what these programs are and you need to not quit right here,” he said.
The Leadership East Texas program is a consortium of community partners, including the City of Cleveland, City of Dayton, City of Liberty, Cleveland Economic Development Corporation, Liberty County, Greater Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, Cleveland ISD, Tarkington ISD and Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD.
This year’s graduates were sponsored by Anne Vickery and Associates Realty, Bluebonnet News, Entergy Texas, Fullscope Pest Control, Southside Bank, My Work Spot, Southside Bank, Southern Elite Mortgage, Coldspring-Oakhurst ISD, Cleveland ISD, Liberty County, the cities of Liberty, Dayton and Cleveland, Cleveland EDC, Greater Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, Cleveland EDC, Tarkington ISD, and Veritex Bank.
Table sponsors for the graduation ceremony were Adecco Sealants, Inc., City of Cleveland, City of Dayton, City of Liberty, Cleveland EDC, Cleveland ISD, My Work Spot, Regina Vollmer Covenant Realty Group, and State Rep. Ernest Bailes.
The ceremony was held at the Cleveland ISD Administration Building with lunch catered by the Cleveland High School Culinary Arts program.
The board for the LET is comprised of Cleveland City Manager Scott Swigert (president and chairman), Kimberly Judge (chair elect), Jim Carson (past chair), Regina Vollmer (treasurer), Calesta House (secretary), Madi Key (director), J. Rice (director) and Melanie Cotten (chief operating officer).
To sign up for the next class, contact Jim Carson at leadershipeasttexas@gmail.com.