60 junior high students in leadership program
The Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation, in partnership with Globe Life and Arlington ISD, launched another year of the Leading Off Program last week, a servant leadership initiative for junior high school students from across Arlington ISD.
Each year, the Leading Off Program engages over 60 seventh and eighth grade students from a number of Arlington ISD junior high schools. This year, students from Barnett, Boles, Ousley, and Young junior high schools are participating in leadership workshops, community service events, and educational field trips designed to cultivate essential leadership skills.
“The Leading Off Program presented by Globe Life is about investing and preparing junior high students to become leaders now and in the future,” said Rey Casas, Texas Rangers Baseball Club Senior Director of Community Impact. “The maturation process we see in these students as they take part in the program during the school year is truly impressive and remarkable.”
Throughout the program, students focus on eight core leadership qualities, applying these lessons through practical, real-life activities. The program’s capstone project challenges students to identify a pressing issue in their community and design a nonprofit organization to address it. Using the leadership and problem-solving skills they build throughout the year, students develop comprehensive plans that include fundraising, target audience, and long-term sustainability.
To get the program started this year, the junior high students took a field trip last week to the Dan Dipert Career and Technical Center. Casas brought a guest speaker for the students – someone he knows very well.
“One of the many special parts of my job is working with community leaders in Arlington and having them take part in our programs,” Casas said. “But nothing beats having my sister share her story and talk about her challenges and successes with our Leading Off students. She makes me so proud, and truthfully, I get a bit emotional when I see her connect with these students.”
His sister is Claudia Michelle Casas, Program Assistant with the Veterans Upward Bound office at The University of Texas at Arlington and founder of C. Casas Consulting, LLC. She drew from her personal experience with cerebral palsy and spoke to students about perseverance. She emphasized that no matter the challenges they face, they can overcome obstacles and achieve their goals.
Those are exactly the values students are learning through the Leading Off Program.