An exceptional group of students from Elk Mound High School presented a project on April 18th that will benefit the community and the surrounding area.
Emily Bartig, Dylan Black, Kyla Egan, Allison Lindquist, and Ryan Mohr were members of the Discovering Leadership program. The group has taken time away from their everyday schedule to plan and develop a project that will hopefully get approved so it can be implemented. The group has chosen a biannual blood drive as their project.
“We decided we wanted to start running blood drives through our school,” said Emily Bartig.
The group has taken lots of time to organize the proposal in hopes that the school will
approve it. “We had lots of ideas fall through.” Emily said, ”[We]decided to carry through with the blood drive idea around the February session (meeting for the program). We all had to work together to gather facts and create an appealing powerpoint and other visuals to present.”
The group’s presentation at the Discovering Leadership banquet took around ten minutes, but there is still more planning to be done. Once the group has gotten full approval from the school board, they will need to figure out the logistical aspects of the project. When a blood drive is organized they need at least one person to be the coordinator of the event. It becomes very important that the event is scheduled well in advance so it can be publicized.
When the entirety of the project is put in place it will have a large impact over time.
Ryan Mohr stated, “[The] project will make an impact by making those who need blood able to get [it]. There is a huge blood shortage in our society today, and we want to do something about it.”
Blood is in high demand across the nation. According to the American Red Cross, every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood. This adds up to approximately 36,000 units of red blood cells are needed every day in the United States. The blood type most requested is type O.
A blood drive is a great idea for a Discovering Leadership project. Other projects that have been done in the past are: Water bottle filler addition to a water fountain, school store, mental awareness club, and boosting school spirit.
Discovering Leadership is a program that encourages young adults to become leaders in the community. If you are interested in making a difference and are going to be a junior in high school next year, ask your school counselor about Discovering Leadership.