Hallmark Awards Resources
Sample of a 2004 Leadership Hallmark Award - Winning Essay
Alpha Phi Theta Chapter
Ivy Tech State College - Southwest
Evansville, Indiana
As the newly elected 2003-2004 Alpha Phi Theta officers, we were overwhelmed with the responsibility of leading an internationally awarded chapter. The showcase collection of Lucite awards and engraved plaques earned by our predecessors intimidated those of us with minimal experience in leadership positions. Fears subsided once we outlined our goals during our summer strategic planning sessions. "The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been" (Henry Kissinger). We embraced these words as our leadership theme, seeking to enhance our own leadership skills and to facilitate leadership development in others. Our method was to engage our chapter, college campus, local public school system, community, and Indiana region in activities to realize our Chapter's leadership development goals.
Officer training began shortly following induction with a group session to outline our roles and clearly designate areas of responsibility. Under the guidance of our advisor, we learned and practiced leadership skills at planning sessions, which resulted in new-found confidence in our abilities. We were inspired as one of our members and past president delivered the student address at graduation, knowing that her involvement in Phi Theta Kappa was key to her being asked to speak. During our strategic planning sessions, where we decided on strategies to implement the International Honor Study Topic and Service Program, we appointed champions to oversee major initiatives with a goal of seeking members to chair working committees. Thus, we were prepared for our first leadership challenge of re-establishing an active chapter, vital to the campus and local community.
Our three-pronged approach targeted (1) potential members with our "Top Ten Reasons to Become a PTK Member" campaign; (2) new inductees with personal contacts to attend the meetings; and (3) current members with monthly email updates with ideas for their involvement. These actions increased attendance at general meetings and planned events with a record numbers participating in fundraisers. Members were approached to chair committees such as Thanksgiving Food Drive sponsored by Student Government, to host the recruitment table during Club Day, and to serve as team leaders for Tell-A-Friend. A new inductee who volunteered to take photos at an event later assumed the office of Public Relations when the position opened up in November. The number of first-time members who stepped forward to orchestrate the many tasks required to host Indiana Regional Honors was the ultimate testimony to our success in building leadership from within the chapter.
Modeling leadership traits to the campus community was our second objective. Organizing the first campus-wide Project Graduation provided our first opportunity. We composed a letter to potential graduates, challenging them donate food and children's books for local charities. Next, seven members were involved in coordinating and engaging student participation in the first-ever political forum held on campus. In December, we provided physical space and supplies for students to write letters to legislators advocating financial support for cancer treatment. Finally, we joined forces with the Fitness Center to sponsor the first annual fitness challenge. This involved encouraging officers from student organizations to gain member participation.
Inspiring leadership among high school and middle school students was among our outlined goals. To accomplish this, we mentored a high school Relay for Life team, helping them organize their team and fundraise over $1200 for the cause. Among our most satisfying accomplishments, however, was chartering a National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) chapter at neighboring Harwood Middle School, an urban school with a predominantly low-income student population. Knowing that many of these students suffered low self esteem and little recognition for their accomplishments, we believed NJHS would provide motivation to assume leadership roles and pursue academic excellence. We financed the initial charter, purchased key pins for 16 charter members, and organized the induction. With our assistance, Harwood became the first public Evansville middle school with a NJHS chapter.
Demonstrating our leadership to the community was accomplished by implementing our service hallmark. We organized several projects for the American Cancer Society (ACS), but one event was especially noteworthy; that is, we orchestrated our first Car Show to benefit the ACS. A particular challenge we faced was our collective lack of experience in organizing such an event. The only Phi Theta Kappa member with car show experience withdrew from school prior to the event, leaving the rest of us in an initial panic to honor our commitment to the ACS. We partnered with another student organization and with research and determination, we implemented a successful car show. Although the other student organization looked to us as leading the coordination, almost everyone from both organizations had a leadership role--- soliciting donations, entertaining the children, obtaining the trophies, community promotion, contracting with the mall, and devising contests to pass the time until judging. We learned many leadership lessons through our involvement in this entertaining project.
Our final goal was to impact the Indiana Region by serving as leaders to others and by providing opportunities for others to lead. Hosting Indiana Regional Honors was the ultimate test of our collective leadership skills. We were warned by our advisor that our success was contingent upon our ability to function as an effective officer team, careful planning, and a multitude of volunteers. Once we agreed to a Hawaiian-themed luau/conference, our tasks included everything from working with the caterer (chocolate macadamia cake or pineapple custard?) to arranging for appropriate speakers. Members were in charge of decorations, registration, t-shirt selection, logistics, introducing guest speakers, thank-you gifts and cards, distributing and tabulating an ethical survey, implementing contests, and promotions. We knew from the onset that our conference would be patterned after the Honors Institute, so that involved setting up small groups and recruiting leaders --- a leadership opportunity we provided to other chapters. To more thoroughly cover the honors topic, we invited chapters to prepare table clinics (table top educational displays) that were set up in the hallways and judged by participants. The response was overwhelming and the displays were excellent.
We implemented our theme, Islands of Policy-Making and Ethical Decisions, throughout the two day conference. Over one hundred of our respected peers dressed in Hawaiian attire and boogied with us until the security guard switched the lights. Despite our careful planning, however, we had a few mishaps. For example, one of our officers became an impromptu entertainer when the sound system went out as the keynote speaker was introduced. Surprisingly, we did not experience the high anxiety we anticipated as the weekend progressed. Our strategy of spreading the responsibilities among our membership and other chapter members helped to ease our anxiety and allowed several people to glow in the complements we received. We shared in the glory as others told us Regional Honors was the best planned and most meaningful regional event they had ever attended.
According to Walter J. Lippmann, "The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and will to carry on." As we reflect on the year's accomplishments, we see evidence of personal growth in ourselves and in one another. Because we have encouraged one another, we are no longer intimidated by assuming awesome tasks. We experienced the satisfaction of serving as leaders and of mentoring others in leadership roles, and we are motivated to continue to lead. By achieving our leadership goals, we successfully executed the leadership task defined by Henry Kissinger.
