Over the last few months, Leadership Inspirations pioneered our first summer of virtual Leadership Academies. These months are usually filled with moving excited students into dorm rooms, introducing schools to their coaches, and leading them through in-person team-building experiences, including a ropes course. While none of these things were going to be possible as we continued to shelter-in-place, Leadership Inspirations was still determined to give students a summer to remember. 

Our staff dove in headfirst, creating a virtual experience that could compete with our in-person experiences. Our coaches came prepared with years of experience, online facilitation training, and excitement, eager to connect with students and take on the challenge of this year together. 

Throughout our Leadership Academies, we had the pleasure of serving 25 schools and 681 students online! Students dedicated 12 hours to working with their student organizations in School Sessions to collectively prepare for a virtual school year. They had opportunities to connect with students from their areas to brainstorm and create new projects through mixed-school Homeroom Sessions. They also had the opportunity to network with students from all over the state of California to share their experiences as student leaders. To culminate their experience, schools prepared short videos about their summer together. Watch our summer close-out video here!

Leadership Academy 2020 was certainly unlike any other. Through the dedication, motivation, creativity, resilience, and passion of coaches, students, and advisors, we were able to make it one for the books. Check-out what some of our students and advisors had to say about it: 

• I am always impressed with the quality of teaching that is done. The training of your staff is unbelievable and honorable. Thank you for always making our experience amazing!
• The school sessions ran seamlessly! The activities worked well in a virtual setting and achieved the same goals as in person activities. The coaches were fantastic and worked SO well as a team.
• I learned new events to interact students with one another while social distancing and I was able to learn self-confidence in myself and come out of my shell a little to be able to try new adventurous things
• I am so glad we still had camp even though it wasn’t in person. The activities were still fun and I got to bond and talk with my classmates on a deeper level.

Our team is overwhelmingly thankful for this experience. Summer is by far our favorite time of the year as we have the opportunity to work with such incredible students, and this year was a testament to how incredible they really are. They took this virtual experience as an opportunity to make the most of their upcoming year together. They showed up and put in the work for their student bodies, and we could not be more proud of them! 

As we look ahead to the school year, we are looking forward to providing more online teambuilding experiences to student groups through Team Development workshops and Executive Board Trainings. 

We are also excited to offer new opportunities for educators looking for help with online tools or virtual activities. Don’t miss out on our LIMITED TIME SPECIALS that include 80+ activities with virtual variations and video tutorials! Contact jayne@leadershipinspirations.com for more information. 

*Meet the Author*

Caelan Cooney is the Operations Manager for Leadership Inspirations. She got her start in leadership as a high school DECA student and went on to graduate from Chapman University with degrees in Business Management and Integrated Educational Studies. As a regular contributor to From the Balcony, her favorite topics to explore are personality theory, group development, and conflict management. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and listening to podcasts. 

Favorite Quote: “I am still learning” – Michelangelo

Fun Facts: 1) I once bought a goat on Craigslist 2) I am afraid of escalators 3) My life goal is to give a TedTalk