Now in its 10th year at Cornerstone, the ART of Leadership Foundation (ALF) works with Nevada Middle School students to inspire in them vision and leadership, giving them the skills to succeed in their lives and to be leaders in their communities.  ALF Founder and President, Denise Stein, was inspired to start the program at Cornerstone after hearing executives in her management training courses say to her, “I wish I had gone through this training when I was a kid…things may have been different for me.”

Each school year, six 6th graders are chosen to join their 7th and 8th grade classmates in the ART of Leadership, a seven-year program in which members participate through high school graduation.  During a series of retreats and classes, students in the Middle School program focus on building the essential skills of Leadership, Management, and Coaching.  They work with local business professionals who act as volunteer “Coaches” to develop a Personal Life Vision (PLV).  They learn to integrate their PLV into their everyday activities and decisions.  As a group, these young people use their individual PLVs to develop a class mission for the year, setting goals along the way.

The annual mission is a community service project, and the projects have ranged from developing viral videos to share with other young people, to hosting a “block party” at a group home, to park and neighborhood beautification.  All the while, the students experience the rewards of making positive changes in their communities, ultimately elevating their expectations of themselves and for the world in which they live.

Most of Cornerstone’s first ALF participants are now college juniors.  Many come back to ALF events as volunteers, helping to coach middle and high school students as they strive to make their visions reality. 

Learn more about the ART of Leadership at  www.artofleadership.net.