AMES, Iowa -- ISU Police are hosting the 15th annual "Get a Grip" program July 26-28 -- a statewide leadership, alcohol prevention and traffic safety program for Iowa high school students.
Nearly 100 students representing 16 Iowa school districts will develop leadership skills, learn about healthy choices and discover how they can be positive role models in their schools and communities. Adult trainers and peer advisers lead participants through the process of team building and goal setting to develop ideas for alcohol-free, safe environments in their hometowns.
Keynote speaker Bill Cordes of Great Bend, Kan., who's been with the program for 13 years, returns to ISU to share his humorous and enthusiastic message of YOGOWYPI -- or, "You Only Get Out What You Put In." It's a key strategy, he says, to help students transition from where they are to where they want to be. Cordes draws upon his experiences as a former school teacher, college instructor, coach and television talk show host to connect with youth. He's the author of "Class It Up," a study skills book for students; "The YOGOWYPI Factor," and co-author of "Teen Power Too" and "Teen Empower."
Conference sessions include a chocolate river team-building exercise, an open mic contest, a reader's theatre performance and other fun activities. The conference will be held in the Friley Hall Study Room, and lodging is provided in Martin Hall.
Dawn Wedeking, an Iowa State senior who's majoring in exercise and sport science, is participating in Get A Grip for the seventh year. She first participated as a high school sophomore, and now helps to organize the event.
"Get a Grip is so much more than a three-day summer conference," Wedeking said. "For me and many others, it has been a life-changing event. The wisdom I have gained from Get A Grip will be with me for a lifetime and will continue to carry over into my life. Get A Grip taught me to be confident, to believe in myself, to set goals and achieve them."
More information about Get A Grip is available online at http://www.dps.iastate.edu/getagrip/hs/. The conference is sponsored by the Iowa Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau and Iowa State University's Department of Public Safety.
Students from the following high schools are participating in the event: Ames, Belle Plaine, Bellevue, Burlington Notre Dame, Clarinda, Clinton, Collins-Maxwell, Eldora-New Providence, Essex, Garner-Hayfield, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, Harlan, Riverside, Shenandoah, Sumner-Fredericksburg and Woodbine.