LOWNDES— Pine Grove Middle School’s Ladies of Excellence (LOE) and Young Men of Excellence (YME) groups enjoyed a phenomenal Leadership Training and Luncheon before the Christmas break! The training for the group of 80 seventh and eighth grade students was held at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center.

A group of dynamic guest speakers took time out of their busy schedules to share with these students:  

• Angie Crawford, State Farm Insurance Agent
• Rodney Green, Assistant Superintendent with Lowndes County Schools
• Lieutenant Dereck Willis, Fire Inspector/Fire Investigator with the City of Valdosta
• Sergeant Sabrina Smith with the Valdosta Police Department.

Angie Crawford engaged the students in an exciting team building activity to show students what type of leadership skills they possessed.  Rodney Green shared tips on being a great leader by engaging the entire group with a thought provoking question:  What does the “I” in iPhone stand for? The answers were:  information, individual, instruct, inform, and inspire. He encouraged the group to use those five words when it comes to being an effective leader!  Lieutenant Willis and Sergeant Smith were very interactive with the group while stressing the importance of making good decisions and identifying qualities of a true leader!

We are thankful for our wonderful club sponsors who hosted this event and continue to pour so much into these amazing students!  Our Ladies of Excellence Sponsors are Dr. Jamie Foster-Hill, Mrs. Sandy Alcidonice-Whitfield, Ms. Alchanda Mayfield-Harrison, Mrs. Brittany Carswell, and Dr. Heather Morin; Young Men of Excellence Sponsors are Coach Derrick Yarbrough, Coach Will Hardesty, Mr. Joe James, Mr. Dillon Swilley, and Coach Kalvin Zoucha.