CHARLOTTESVILLE — After more than 10 years of Royal Leadership Academy classes at Eastern Hancock, the program is having its first class reunion.
Past and present students came together to plan an event that will raise funds as well as provide networking opportunities for young people who are past participants in the high school elective.
The get-together will take place Saturday, June 19.
Eastern Hancock High School teacher Debbie Grass asked administrators in 2010 if she could try running a new kind of class, which would teach students leadership skills they could put to use in their future workplaces. As her textbook, she used author John C. Maxwell’s book “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,” and each student was required to work on a project that would make a positive contribution to their school or wider community.
Eleven years later, the class has been a success.
“It’s one of my favorite classes to teach,” Grass said.
The idea of having a reunion for past students has been raised in the past, Grass said, but this year two students — Mia Griesmeyer and Cam Wise — decided to take it on as their project for the year.
Mia, who was also taking a college and career readiness class with Grass, mentioned during the class that she was considering a career in event planning. Then Grass suggested she had an idea for an event Mia could help plan.
With help from some past students, Mia and Cam planned a philanthropic alumni event that will raise money to assist future students with their own community service projects.
Mia worked to make the project a success by creating social media pages that she used to reach out to Grass’ past students, recruiting a few from each year as “ambassadors” who helped contact their classmates and contributed what they wanted to see from the event.
She hopes the event will give younger class participants like her a chance to connect with those in established careers and demonstrate what leadership skills can achieve.
“For me, this class has had a huge impact on me, and I know it has for a lot of other people,” she said.
Grass said many of her past students have gone on to have successful careers, and she hopes the upcoming event will be an opportunity for them to help each other by forming relationships and networking connections.
“All these kids are kind of in the same boat, so I’m hoping they’ll connect with one another,” she said.
Austin Lee, a member of Grass’ first-ever Leadership Academy class, helped put together the upcoming event. He said the Leadership Academy class focuses on life skills that will be relevant to students whether they plan to go on to college or directly into a career after graduating from high school.
“It really gives you those tools in high school that are applicable afterward,” he said.
About 200 people have participated in past Leadership Academy classes, and Lee said about 80 of them have RSVP’d to attend the event on Saturday at the high school, along with plus ones. The reunion will have a “21” theme, a reference both to the year 2021 and to the 21 principles laid out in Maxwell’s book. To tie in with that, the event will feature casino-style decor in tribute to the game of blackjack, where players aim for their cards to add up to the number 21.
Those in attendance can bid on 21 different gift baskets in a silent auction. They’ll hear from several speakers on leadership topics, and a hypnotist will provide entertainment.
Lee said he also sees the event as a tribute to Grass, who focuses on teaching her students principles like servant leadership, respect and personal sacrifice.
Mia said she has loved participating in hands-on projects like this one in the Leadership Academy. Grass, she said, helps her students find the resources to accomplish anything they want to pursue.
“Mrs. Grass is an amazing teacher,” she said.