After an eight hour trip on a fully loaded coach bus, students from Lafayette’s Renaissance Student Steering Committee, along with other committee members from Rockwood Summit High School and Parkway South High School arrived in Columbus, OH in order to attend the annual Renaissance Heartland Conference on Oct. 13-14.

At this conference, over 320 students from over 21 schools in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Missouri came together in order to present, observe and learn about the Renaissance programs in various different fashions around the United States.

According to the introductory letter from the hosting Principal of Gahanna Lincoln High School Dwight Carter, there were four goals of the Ohio Collaborative Conference.

He writes, “The goals for a collaborative are quite simple: 1. To grow Renaissance in schools, 2. To network, 3. To share best practices and 4. To connect with one another.”

The students in attendance were met with a full day of Renaissance and leadership related activities such as speeches and activities led by motivation speaker and former Minnesota Vikings Team Captain Keith Nord.

Nord spoke about the importance of realizing leadership for the benefit of the masses, utilizing his own experiences as a walk-on National Football League player and eventual Captain as an example.

Nord said, “When the coach pulled me aside to tell me that he had decided to name me a Captain, I said, ‘Thank you so much coach! It’s an unbelievable honor!’ I thought he was going to take it back right then. He said, ‘I’m not doing this to make you feel good, I just think you are ready to lead.’”

Nord also took this experience a step further, continually asking throughout the day, “Why are you here?” and expecting the response, “Because I am a leader” with emphasis on the word “am.”

Students from Lafayette were also among the presenters of the day, with students such as senior Elana Sindelar and juniors Felipe D’Andrea, Alex Kraemer and Jordan West presenting on the student incentives which Lafayette Renaissance offers to its students.

Principal John Shaughnessy and Assistant Principal Tim Jones also led discussions on the positives of the annual Academic Pep Assembly and financing various aspects of the Renaissance programs.

Jones said, “The focus for me is in sharing all of the wonderful things that we do at Lafayette through the Renaissance program. We give back to the program through our presentations to newer programs. We help them instill a program like we have. It’s great to take our all-stars on the road and show everyone exactly who we are.”

“I am the mouthpiece of those who could not be with me at the conference like Matt Landwehr and Michele Rodgers who take care of things like the academic credit card giveaways and the Academic Pep Assemblies. It is my job to show everyone what we are made of here at Lafayette,” Jones said.

All in all, the students and staff of the Renaissance Steering Committees returned with a feeling of accomplishment after promoting the future of the Renaissance Program at Lafayette and at schools around the nation.

Jones said, “Whenever we travel I always come back with a renewed appreciation for this school. We prepare our students really well and it’s just a great place to be. It is a sacrifice of time, and the trip  is long, but it is just great to be able to go there and, not brag, but show what great things Renaissance has engrained in our culture here at Lafayette.”

He concluded, “A lot of people at these conferences don’t really know what Renaissance entails, and it’s just so great to know that we have helped get some of that going in their schools so that they are able to promote excellence in their schools as well.”