Student Leadership

From Friday through Sunday at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center, the Colorado High School Activities Association hosted its annual Student Leadership Summer Conference.

In this five-part series, I am looking back at some of the moments that capture my time here in the CHSAA office. The past year has been an opportunity to help grow the spotlight on Colorado high school activities. Esports, Student Leadership, Speech & Debate, and Music are the areas in which I am proud to work directly. I want to thank our Activities/Athletic Directors, advisors, judges, coaches, and student participants. Every activity has given me a “moment” so it has been hard to choose the stories to share this week; however, these stories should give you an idea of what the past year has been like for me. While I am taking a moment to look back, it is also a great time to look ahead. Each of these activities has a very bright future. Thank you all for making my first year at CHSAA such an amazing experience.

Over the past 26 years, Dale Garland has grown the Durango High School Student Council program into one of Colorado’s very best. Whether it was his dedication to the CHSAA Student Leadership Advisory Committee, his commitment to the NatStuCo “Councils of Excellence” program, or his goal of showcasing his community by hosting a CHSAA Fall Conference, Dale Garland gave his all to our Student Leadership community. On February 12, Garland officially announced his retirement. While his retirement is well-deserved, students and advisers across the state should know that we are grateful for who he is and how he impacted schools across the state. 

2022 CHSAA Student Leadership Summer Conference Agenda

For years now, the CHSAA-hosted Adviser University gathering of student leadership advisors has served as an important networking event for adults guiding student leadership students across Colorado.

In what would seem to be nothing more than great timing, Dr. Laymon Hicks stopped by the CHSAA office on Tuesday, to visit with assistant commissioner Rashaan Davis. Dr. Hicks, who is from Florida, is in Colorado to speak with students and staff at Manitou Springs High School.

Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to meet Wendy Pottorff, an amazing leader and a CHSAA Board of Directors member representing the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB). We had a great conversation about my new role in the office and one of my first tasks- securing locations for our Student Leadership Summits. As I shared the vision for what we were looking to do, Wendy immediately began to talk about the leadership development that students at Limon High School were involved in, how we could involve schools on the Eastern Plains, and the overall positive impact this would have on student leaders across Colorado. I was drawn to her vision of what this could produce as much as she was drawn to the CHSAA vision of creating multi-site leadership experiences. When we talked a few weeks later and she informed me that Limon High School would host, I was overjoyed.

The students at Durango High School found an interesting way to add some fun to their Spooky Spirit Week. “Anything but a Backpack” Day allowed students to display their creativity in hauling their books and other school supplies to school.

On a cool weekend in mid-October the place to be is Palisade High School, as they hosted the first of three CHSAA Student Leadership Summits.