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Future leaders graduate with thanks and commitment to community

IOANNIS PASHAKIS/ Sun-Gazette Sam Sawyer, of UPMC Susquehanna, accepts his plaque from Todd Musheno, of the Hartman Group, after graduating from Leadership Lycoming

Learning about opportunities in volunteerism and bettering oneself as a leader in the workplace have been major goals for the past year for Leadership Lycoming’s 2018 graduates.

Those goals were repeated confidently by those graduates as they thanked their mentors for helping them better understand their community during their graduation Thursday morning.

For the last 10 months, 25 potential leaders in business learned through seminars and hands-on experience to address the needs of the community they live in and to bring those skills into the workplace.

“It’s, in my opinion, the most comprehensive program available in Lycoming County to bring together different opportunities to volunteer,” said Mike Pontious, chairman of Leadership Lycoming. “It gets you into environments that you typically wouldn’t have access to like touring jails and joining in police ride-a-longs.”

Graduates leave the program with a knowledge of working with and joining chairpersons and board members in the community as well as working with both large and small programs as volunteers, Pontious said. While working with the attendees of the program, Leadership Lycoming emphasizes getting people in uncomfortable situations.

“It is easy to stay in your comfort zone,” Pontious said. “This pulls you out of the box and teaches you about the community and the opportunities in it.”

Stephanie Steinbacher, one of the 2018 graduates, spoke on behalf of her class after receiving their plaques and graduating. Steinbacher told the audience the group’s shared experiences made them feel like family.

“We practiced our resiliency, learned to write press releases, made cold calls for sponsorships, we faced challenges and learned when to work with strong and in-process visions,” Steinbacher said.

After the graduation, Donna Bastian, a former Loyalsock Township School District teacher with a long history of volunteerism in the county, presented the Donna Bastian Leadership Lycoming Community Service Award to Andree Phillips. Phillips, president of the Community Theatre League, has won numerous awards for her volunteerism.

Phillips was the seventh individual to be given the award, which Pontious described is given to someone that has shown organizational excellence and leadership.

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