On June 19,2010, a group of students from the class of 2012 will depart from St. Louis and head to Hagerstown, Maryland and be the first WCA students to experience Summer Seminar in Leadership.  They will take part in eleven days of battles, tours, and leadership scenarios that were real life experiences in the Civil War.

“This trip is designed to communicate principles of leadership at school and beyond,” said Scott Holley, Academic Dean.

This year’s sophomores will learn to apply Civil War leadership principles to their own lives.

“We will walk the Battle of Gettysburg and the Battle of Antietam, and discuss different adjustments the generals made due to certain dilemmas,” said Holley.

Both battles have core lessons to learn about leading.  In the Battle of Antietam, students will focus on “Facing responsibility,” “Laying the groundwork for change,” and “Getting the job done.”  Likewise, the Battle of Gettysburg will give students a better understanding of “Seeing the big picture,” “The courage to adjust,” “Accepting responsibility,” and “The weight of leadership.”

These cores will last about ninety minutes. Though the beginning of the trip seems a little different from a normal summer seminar trip, the last few days will be left for the wilderness

“After Gettysburg, the students will travel to Shenandoah National Park and backpack for three and a half days,” said Holley.

The students will practice what they have learned at the Park, as well as at the New River Gorge.  Students will have to get from point A to point B.  There will be trails that mirror situations that soldiers experienced on the battlefield.  Holley hopes that the principles that are exposed will not be erased from these students’ minds.

“The idea is to come back to school and apply the principles that were exposed,” said Holley.