PIQUA — The second and final event of the Lehman Teen Leadership Corps Double Dash Color Run was held Saturday, April 2. Despite the high winds and low temperatures, a number of eager runners and walkers met at Piqua Lock 9 for the event.
The overall first place awards, regardless of age group, were earned by Evan Fogt, age 12, of Sidney with a time of 25:36, and Morgan Peltier, age 16, of Piqua with a time of 24:52. These top male and female awards were donated by the Miami County YMCA.
Just like the first run held at Sidney’s Tawawa Park on March 19, colorful trophies and certificates were presented to the top three male and top three female finishers in each age division.
The ten students in the Lehman TLC have been busy planning and preparing for this duel event since November. Students were responsible for securing event sponsors, designing T-shirts and getting them printed, marketing the two events, planning refreshments, arranging for public contacts and insurance, developing registration materials, ordering awards, and organizing the day-of volunteers to insure that each event ran smoothly.
The students learned leadership skills in public relations, communications, business and financing, organization, and creative problem-solving. Most importantly, these teen leaders gained self-confidence in their own abilities.
The students are using the profits from the 2016 Double Dash to bring a nationally known speaker on youth leadership and motivation to campus next fall for an all-school assembly.
Lehman junior Emma Jacomet said, “It was interesting to see what it takes to put together a 5K and rewarding to see that all of our hard work paid off!”
The Teen Leadership Corps is a year-long academic course offered to Lehman Catholic juniors and seniors. Students must submit a written application and essay in the spring of the previous year to be considered for acceptance into the class. Because of increased interest, an interview for each candidate will also be required for the 2016-17 class.
In addition to Jacomet, the other members of TLC are seniors Sara Fuller, Allie Hall, Cassidy Hemm, and Kassie Lee, and juniors Eli Baker, Sidney Chapman, Hannah Fogt, John-Henry Frantz and Kate Hemm. The teacher and adviser for the group is Melissa Safreed, of Piqua.
