FARMINGTON – A team of six student leaders from the University of Maine at Farmington recently competed in the annual Collegiate Leadership Competition. The UMF team was one of 25 teams competing from the U.S. and Canada in a two-day virtual competition, where the team from Farmington placed third for their results score and fourth overall.
This year’s team included: Chloe Allen from Windham, Isaiah Day from Fryeburg, Gabbi Fultz from South Berwick, Conner Malone from Newport, Austin Marden from Strong and Tiana McDougal from Corinth. The UMF team is sponsored by Farmington Rotary.
Conner Malone received the competition’s Emerging Leader Award. Elyse Pratt-Ronco, co-coach of the UMF team, was named Coach of the Year.
The UMF team met weekly during the semester to practice with coaches, Kirsten Swan and Pratt-Ronco, and mentor-coach and UMF senior Brandon Reed. Members of the UMF team found the experience taught them many applicable skills, including how to work together as a team, how to support each other and how to learn from other people’s perspectives.
“I am so proud to have worked with this group of leaders all semester. They already hold leadership roles on campus, and now they have more skills to bring to the UMF community,” said Pratt-Ronco, a co-coach for the team. “What was most evident all semester about this group was their high emotional intelligence. They trusted one another, communicated well, and always showed tremendous respect for themselves and the team. I am sad to see our time together come to an end, and also very excited to see what they each do next here at UMF.”
Founded in 2015, Collegiate Leadership Competition (CLC) provides collegians passionate about leadership with a practice field. Students actively apply their learning via a global leadership competition.
Teams are prepared through a curriculum rooted in academic theory. Curriculum Themes are presented as terms and concepts, such as attributes of effective leaders, stress and conflict management, problem-solving, followership, and more. Through the curriculum, students are fine-tuning their career preparedness skill set of coach ability, collaboration, drive, professionalism and curiosity.
Colleges that competed in this year’s competition included: Berry College, Johnson County Community College, UT-Mississauga, Bowdoin College, The College of Saint Rose, Concordia University, West Chester University, Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo), University of Delaware. University of Maine at Farmington, Concordia University, United States Air Force Academy. Johnson County Community College, United States Air Force Academy. Illinois Institute of Technology. John Carroll University. John Carroll University. Methodist University. Christopher Newport University. University of Southern Maine. Methodist University. Sheridan College. Kent State University. Brock University. The College of Saint Rose.
