Over the past year, the Clinton County Leadership Institute’s Class of 2022-2023 has been presented the opportunity to not only develop their leadership skills, but to explore Clinton County. The journey has led the students from learning about the history of Clinton County and how it led to the rich, agricultural traditions of the county.

From there the class has explored the structure of government, health care, and human services, and the businesses that drive economic development in the community. On the final day of class, the group was given the opportunity to complete the journey on Education Day.

The exploration of the education system in Clinton County began at Wilmington Christian Academy. Greg Oliver – the school’s administrator – discussed the educational philosophy of the school and discussed how the school not only focuses on the student’s educational journey, but their spiritual journey as well. The class was able to tour the new addition to the building and learn how this new facility will give the school new opportunities to teach integral skills to the students and families it serves.

Next, the class visited the Clinton County Youth Council, where kids are given a safe environment to come and have positive interactions with one another after school lets out. Executive director Eric Guindon discussed how they serve the youth by providing opportunities for mentoring, recreation, music, video games, art, cooking, gardening, and many more activities. Through these services that are provided at no cost to students in grades 6-12, the community benefits from having youth that are engaged with the community and are working to develop themselves into young adults.

The class then took a trip to Wilmington College. While on the campus, the class was able to learn the history of the campus and its relationship to the City of Wilmington and Clinton County. From discussing the Quaker roots of the college, the class was able to tie together many of the areas they have learned about through the last year of the leadership program.

Finally, the class was able to visit the county’s old jail, which is now the location of the Veterans Service Commission. After learning about the resources available to those who served in the armed forces through the Clinton County Veterans Service Commission, the class was given a very unique opportunity to explore the tunnel that runs from the old jail building to the courthouse.

The Clinton County Leadership Institute’s Class of 2022-2023 has been extremely dedicated to learning about leadership and Clinton County. For the first time on record, all of the students will be graduating with honors in April through class engagement and attending additional activities outside of the scheduled class days. With this dedication to being leaders in the community, the Class of 2022-2023 is truly the best class ever.