FEATURE
Leaders
Jesuit’s emphasis on forming leaders is a
core component of the school’s Strategic Plan
JESUIT PERSPECTIVES • WINTER 2017-18 17
engaged in the Leadership Retreat did
just that – become better leaders.
“I am mentally tired and physically
tired,” Spencer Williams ’20 said
afterward. “It was a great experience.
You had to put in an effort to eat, to
stay warm, to make sure everyone in
the group could eat, to make sure everyone
was taken care of, to complete
all the obstacles, to work together with
your team, to be a leader, to help the
other leaders.
“It was intense.”
The 27 students – 24 sophomores
and 3 juniors – took part in the
school’s third experiential Leadership
Retreat on Jan. 14-16 at Pallardy
Ranch in Myakka City. Coordinated by
Jesuit’s Director of Student Activities,
Mike Scicchitano ’01, and led by COR
Expeditions, a Catholic Outdoor Leadership
Program of Wyoming Catholic
College (wyomingcatholic.org/corexpeditions),
Jesuit has offered the
experiential retreats each of the past
three semesters.
After arriving the afternoon of
Jan. 14, the students learned about
the characteristics of leaders. They
self-evaluated and were evaluated by
their peers in small groups to determine
what leadership traits they
possessed, such as communicative,
persistent, dependable, conscientious,
and composed. Thirteen traits were
identifi ed, and three had to be chosen
as strengths, three as weaknesses for
every classmate evaluated.
“It was honest,” Williams said. “The
goal was determine your leadership
style and become comfortable in it.”
Each student was identifi ed as one
of four styles: Driver, Spontaneous
Motivator, Architect/Analyst, and
Relationship Expert. They explored
ways to improve within their leadership
style, and to develop traits in
another style that could complement
their primary style.
They also learned about slacklines,
compasses, and other outdoor tools
that would comprise a big part of the
mental and physical challenges for
each team on the second day. Spread
far and wide over the 500 acres, in the
woods and in sparse clearings, were
dozens of team-oriented, vexing challenges
that required leadership, and
mental and physical agility, to complete
successfully.
“The obstacles made you work as
a team,” Williams said. “And if you
didn’t have an organized leader, it
would not work. You would fail.”
Divided into three teams (St. Jude,
St. Isaac Jogues, and St. Joseph) of
nine, each one led by a COR guide, the
teams set off separately for fi ve hours
(continued on page 18)
Anthony Nelson ’18 (33) and Nick Terrana ’18 (10) were
two key leaders of the Jesuit football defense