The Chick-fil-A Leadership Academy is an action-oriented program sponsored by Chick-fil-A company that aims to teach students about leadership, communication, innovation, and teamwork through community-minded projects.
A distinguishing aspect of the Academy is the opportunities they receive from being sponsored by a bigger company such as Chick-fil-A.
“We were lucky to have our sponsoring store owner, marketing manager, and manager come out to our kickoff and speak to the club. CFA Leadership Academy teaches students how to become leaders through service, and it is with our sponsoring stores’ support that we are able to accomplish this goal and serve our FCUS community and surrounding community,” Academy advisor Kristen Fendone said.
Each member had their own takeaways from this experience. Some, including senior member Ryan Bonilla, believe they learned how to better develop their leadership and communication skills with the help of these guest speakers.
“The speakers provided information on how to organize yourself as a member of the club. We were separated into groups of three categories to figure out what we are best at, which were marketing, planning, and fundraising,” Bonilla said.
Junior Gabrielle Destine has served as secretary officer for CFA since the end of her sophomore year. She believes the Academy offers opportunities that really open students’ eyes to the endless possibilities ahead.
“Mr. Gaddie really established how Chick-fil-A helps a lot of people and has a lot of scholarships. That has impacted the students by helping them sign up for things and want them to apply to Chick-fil-A, “Destine said.
After the motivational speech from Gaddie and Ronney the Academy’s President senior Ethan Garcia felt the urge to look back in those who inspire him most and reflect on his goals to keep the academy progressing and thriving.
“I would say the people who inspire me to keep going within the club are my peers and the people before me. As the President of the club, I know that a lot of the members rely on me for information and general functioning of the club so that definitely pushes me to persevere. Beyond this, I know that the people before me worked hard to build up the club’s legacy,and I have the duty of continuing it and even making it better,” Garcia said.
CFA members and advisors cannot wait to begin working on their upcoming projects, aiming to make this year a memorable one.
“I’m actually very excited to see our new endeavor go through with the Senior [citizen] prom in February next year. I would like to see how you guys [members] collaborate and come up with some great ideas,” Advisor Michelle Taylor said.
