SHPE - Fall 2007 - (Page 20) C O V E R S T O RY Leadership Practice Case Studies Emphasize Teamwork and Collaborative Skills Professional second place winners Angel Santiago, Heyde Lopez, Irene Roberts and Luis Miguel Soria. Professional case study judges included local professionals and members of the SHPE National Board of Directors and staff. Professional third place winners Rubi Medina, Rosa Donat, Carolyn Vallas, Heidi Lagares and Michael Lopez. Professional first place winners Marlen Ramirez, Miguel Maldonado, Elizabeth Solis and Elizabeth Galaviz. Student first place winners (back row) Benjamin Garcia, Pierre Joas, Christian Navarro, Aaron Martinez, (front row) Kimberly Hernandez, Jessica Narvaez and Alondra Perez. Student second place winners Paco Aguilar, Norma Silva, Paula Bustos, Andrew Elizondo, Everardo Maya-Ramos, Baltazar Gonzalez and Eric Antillon. A s the foundation of the NILA curriculum, the case studies competition provides an immediate opportunity to apply training and, at the same time, initiates leaders in resolving some of the Society’s most important issues. “Any idea can be implemented at the national level,” explained Kathleen Gonzales, case study chairwoman and Region I vice president. “We look to our leaders to come up with solutions to SHPE’s problems.” (See SHPE for Dummies sidebar.) In addition to the knowledge obtained during workshops, student and professional members also could approach SHPE’s experienced leaders and national staff members for information and explore resources on the OneSHPE portal. From there, they devised creative strategies on subjects that ranged from providing services to graduate students and implementing a code of ethics, to academic improvement and consistent membership involvement. Their 10-minute presentations were evaluated on the quality of the content as well as public speaking skills (see side bar). Among the students, first place was awarded to the communications team. Noting that students are rarely without their cell phones, the team suggested sending SHPE deadline reminders via text messages. First place among professionals was awarded to the mentoring case study. The mentoring circle they proposed allows professionals to guide students at the college, high school and middle school levels toward fully developing the pipeline of talent. “The circle is complete because it is often most rewarding to see the energy and interest that young children have,” said team member Elizabeth Galaviz of the Puget Sound Chapter. “That in itself is very motivating for professionals.” More than $15,000 was awarded to case study finalists. Delta Airlines awarded first place winners with round-trip airfare to anywhere in the United States, Canada or Latin America, while second and third place winners received electronic prizes. “They worked us to death,” joked John Mathews, SHPE advisor at the University of Houston, “but I’m impressed with everything that I’ve learned. Working on the case studies allowed us to better understand the organization and build a Student third place winners Ariana Guerrero, Brigeetee Montero, Victor Esparza, Barbara Rodriguez, Victor Rodriguez, Nelson Delgado and Rayeq Badran-Saffarini. Student case study judges Manny Sanchez, Lockheed Martin; Bryant Amador, American Airlines; Catalina Carlos, NILA Committee; Diana Johnson, Texas Instruments; Yuliana Porras, SHPE National committee member; and Raul Muñoz, IBM. lot of good friendships across the organization. It was especially good for the kids. They should feel really comfortable with their responsibility to be leaders when they get back to their chapters because now they know the tools to succeed.” I SHPE R Fall 2007 20
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