Teen Leadership Corps something worth supporting

"Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"So begins an old lesson recently brought to light in a book by bestselling author Jon Gordon and Damon West titled "The Coffee Bean, A Simple Lesson to Create Positive Change." I first came across this question many years ago while I served as a fundraiser working with Catholic parishes and schools. The lesson is quite simple: what happens when you place a carrot, an egg and a coffee bean in a pot of boiling water? The carrot softens, the egg hardens, but the coffee bean changes the water into coffee. The first two are changed by their environment and the conditions they are in, but the coffee bean changes its environment and conditions.It's a simple lesson in life. Life is often like a pot of very hot water. It can be harsh, difficult, and very challenging. But we each have a choice. You can be like the carrot that is weakened and softened by the environment or like the egg that is hardened by it. Or, you can be like the coffee bean that transforms its environment.Reading "The Coffee Bean" made me think of people I have known that overcame challenges and instead of letting their challenges change them, they made the choice and changed the world around them. I would like to share with you one today, her name is Mary Ann Creamer. Many years ago, the student service leadership program at Huron High School, the largest program of its kind at the time, was cut due to financial issues within the district. When the program was cut, Mary Ann conducted two years of research along with other school administrators to develop a student service leadership program for secondary schools. In early 2007, Teen Leadership Corps (TLC) was created and started in seven schools in the 2008-2009 school year. Today, Teen Leadership Corps can be found in 29 high schools, 12 counties in Ohio, and two states (Ohio and Indiana). Like the coffee bean, Mary Ann did not allow the circumstances she faced soften or harden her, she chose instead to transform her circumstances into a positive legacy.On Oct. 30, members of Teen Leadership Corps came to Norwalk High School for their annual conference. More than 500 high school students from the area and beyond met to be inspired and share ideas of how they can positively impact their communities. TLC students are recognizable by their blue jackets with the TLC logo and school logo on their chests. I have had the opportunity to experience the conference the past two years and it is a powerful and moving event.I am humbled to be a small part of the vision and legacy of Mary Ann Creamer as a board member of Teen Leadership Corps. She is a coffee bean I never met. Sadly, Mary Ann passed away in 2015 far too early after battling cancer, but she continues to have an impact on me and in the lives of thousands of students year after year. I am continually inspired and motivated by the students in Teen Leadership Corps. It has been a privilege to work with many of them as we continue to live out Mary Ann's challenge to: Lead. Serve. & Inspire the world. Mary Ann understood, like the coffee bean, that we all have the ability within us to impact and change the world in which we live.We all have a choice. Students in Teen Leadership Corps have made the choice to lead, serve, inspire, and change their schools and communities for the better. Please support these wonderful students and programs throughout our area. Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? I can tell you from experience, the TLC students at our local high schools are all coffee beans transforming our community. From one bean, one choice, many have followed. What a tremendous legacy worth supporting.Mike Gocsik is President of Sunnyside Farm, LLC. He is a leadership development consultant that specializes in unique, equine-assisted retreats on their family's farm. "The Coffee Bean" is an illustrated fable published by John Wiley and Sons and available on Amazon.com and in other bookstores. Teen Leadership Corps is the premier 501 C 3 non-profit organization with the mission "To empower future leaders by bringing character, integrity, and citizenship to high school students through an academic service based leadership program." To learn more and find additional ways to support TLC visit: www.teenleadershipcorps.org The late Mary Ann Creamer (middle) is pictured with some of her TLC students in this file photo.