After a welcome from Ivory Curry, Board President of Leadership Nevada County, the dinner of smoked and barbecued chicken, pork ribs and turkey with salad and desserts was served. After about 20 minutes, Tara Carlton, an ex-officio member of the LNC board, showed a slide show with musical accompaniment that included pictures snapped during the past year of the various learning sessions this year’s graduation class took in.
The sessions were never restricted to a classroom and often involved the students going to various settings in the city of Prescott and county of Nevada (and once to Little Rock and once to DeGray Lake). There were sessions on leadership, local and state government, health and human services, quality of life, history, education and other topics.
The class also split into two groups which oversaw a project at Hamilton House, a shelter for families affected by disaster, and another project that set up what are called Blessing Boxes, where nonperishable food is made available to families in need. Graduates spoke briefly about their projects prior to the awarding of framed diplomas.
The 2023 Leadership Nevada County graduates are:
· James Gillard, Nevada County Library
· Megan Horton, City of Prescott
· April Lovette, SWARK.Today
· Tessa Oliver, Nevada School District
· Jennifer Robbins, Prescott School District
· Beronica Parish, Nevada County
· Carlos VanHook, Prescott Parks Department
· Shanta Wiley, City of Prescott
Photos from the banquet and commencement can be seen below:
New Leadership Nevada County graduate Megan Horton (middle) with Mary Godwin (at podium), Jason Davis (left in blue plaid shirt) and Ivory Curry (right, presenting diploma).
New graduate of Leadership Nevada County Tessa Oliver.
New graduate of Leadership Nevada County Jennifer Robbins.
New graduate of Leadership Nevada County Beronica Parish.
New graduate of Leadership Nevada County Carlos VanHook.
New Leadership Nevada County graduate Shanta Wiley.All the new Leadership Nevada County graduates of 2023: from left, Beronica Parish, Shanta Wiley, Jennifer Robbins, Tessa Oliver and Megan Horton.
.