The first session of the Leadership Chattooga 2011 Program was held Tuesday, March 15, 2011 in Summerville.  The Leadership Chattooga 2011 Program is sponsored by the Chattooga County Commissioner’s Office.  The purpose of the program is to help introduce the positives of our community to our high school students from Chattooga High School and Trion High School.  “Many great companies and impressive individuals call our county home, but that is not always the perception that is generated within our younger community,” said Commissioner Jason Winters.

The participants include six juniors from Chattooga High School and six Juniors from Trion High School.  The selected Chattooga High School students are Ricardo Dominguez, Stephanie Dykes, Kenya Miller, Ryan Morrison, Matthew Pace and Cristy York.  Trion High School’s selected students are Jenna Barnes, Kaleigh Humphreys, Josh Moore, Nicole Peppers, David Powell and Laurie Thompson.

Tuesday’s program began with a presentation on community assets by Commissioner Winters and Niki Knox of Georgia EMC at the Summerville Depot.  Ms. Knox serves as a community and economic development facilitator for rural communities.  Following that discussion, the Leadership class toured Parker Systems and the law firm of Cook & Connelly.  The group was then presented to the monthly Chamber of Commerce luncheon.  After lunch, the class was taken to Cloudland for pictures and a sightseeing trip of the Brow along Lookout Mountain.   They finished their day with a tour of Paradise Gardens in Pennville.

The group will have three more sessions during March, April and May which will include touring several local industries and businesses, an excursion to Rome to look at regional positives and a final trip to Atlanta to look at state issues.

“I do not think that any of us participating will look at our county in quite the same light.  There are many positives in this community that I and we as a group have never ever seen,” stated Matthew Pace.  Matthew is a junior from Chattooga High School.

The program will offer a Spring semester class and a Fall semester class is and is offered to students by their respective schools at no cost to the students or the schools.