In two one-day leadership conferences at Calera First United Methodist Church, Calera High School student athletes learned leadership is plural and leaders are only as strong as the people who follow them.

CHS principal Richard Bishop said the world demands that students leave high school employable and with quality leadership skills.

“Helping our students develop leadership skills will benefit them and strengthen our school, as well as the nation,” he said. “We chose to begin the process with athletes because they are automatically in roles that represent the school every time they put on a uniform.”

About 20 upcoming junior and senior athletes were selected by coaches and put through a challenge course. The following week, 40 upcoming freshmen and sophomores attended.

Students engaged in challenges, such as a balance beam and a trust fall, in which students fall backwards into the arms of their teammates.

Students saw the value of communication, focus, unity and teamwork.

Terry Howell, an upcoming senior, commented, “I learned to look inside myself to the job done and get through obstacles. When we worked together as a team, I thought of what Coach Scott Martin always says: Teams overcome adversity.’”

Bishop reported a 97.75 percent graduation rate for the school.

“Our long-range goal is to develop a school full of leaders who are willing to set a positive example for others, serve each other in productive ways and leave our school ready for the future,” Bishop said.

Mollie Brown can be reached at dmjhb1@bellsouth.net.