2008 Woodie Awards
Training center offers hands-on activities
By Kacie Peterson
Rocket Contributor
Issue date: 9/7/07 Section: Focus
On the outskirts of campus, past the new residence halls and behind the Rock Apartments stands a structure composed of wooden walls, metal poles, ropes, ramps and various combinations of the four.
The Slippery Rock University Leadership Program's Leadership Reaction Course stands tall and quiet in the weekend afternoon sunlight, awaiting students and Reserve Officers Training Corps cadets to return again next week.
Originally built in 2003, the purpose of the course was to bring out and teach leadership skills in participants through task completion.
The Leadership Reaction Course was patterned after a military training base, providing realistic preparation for high school JROTC, college ROTC and National Guard members in the area.
To the uniformed, the wooden walls seem to form numerous three-walled rooms, all containing equipment specific to the task performed inside.
There are 16 different stations in which "groups of students, through different scenarios, complete semi-complex tasks," said Lieutenant Colonel William Bialozor, a professor in the military science department.
The Slippery Rock Executive Leadership Trail is located behind the LRC, and consists of seven separate task areas, instead of the 16 combined stations in the course. These tasks are performed by the ROTC in a race against the clock.
The cadets train on the course four times a semester, with labs on Thursdays from 2 to 5 p.m.
Each experience with the course means a rotation in leaders and stations, and an evaluation in such areas as confidence, courage, team building and communication.
The course also helps to identify leaders in the group, if those leaders are not already appointed, said Tony Caldarelli, director of the Executive Leadership Program.
"Different styles of leadership are more appropriate at times than others," Caldarelli said.
The ROTC uses the LRC to build leadership and teamwork skills, a common goal for all who use the course.
The Slippery Rock University Leadership Program's Leadership Reaction Course stands tall and quiet in the weekend afternoon sunlight, awaiting students and Reserve Officers Training Corps cadets to return again next week.
Originally built in 2003, the purpose of the course was to bring out and teach leadership skills in participants through task completion.
The Leadership Reaction Course was patterned after a military training base, providing realistic preparation for high school JROTC, college ROTC and National Guard members in the area.
To the uniformed, the wooden walls seem to form numerous three-walled rooms, all containing equipment specific to the task performed inside.
There are 16 different stations in which "groups of students, through different scenarios, complete semi-complex tasks," said Lieutenant Colonel William Bialozor, a professor in the military science department.
The Slippery Rock Executive Leadership Trail is located behind the LRC, and consists of seven separate task areas, instead of the 16 combined stations in the course. These tasks are performed by the ROTC in a race against the clock.
The cadets train on the course four times a semester, with labs on Thursdays from 2 to 5 p.m.
Each experience with the course means a rotation in leaders and stations, and an evaluation in such areas as confidence, courage, team building and communication.
The course also helps to identify leaders in the group, if those leaders are not already appointed, said Tony Caldarelli, director of the Executive Leadership Program.
"Different styles of leadership are more appropriate at times than others," Caldarelli said.
The ROTC uses the LRC to build leadership and teamwork skills, a common goal for all who use the course.
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