Lessons on leadership were the topic on Thursday as high school students and business partners marked the end of a new internship program in Pike County.

The luncheon was hosted by the Pike County Economic Development  Corporation, which sponsored the inaugural Workforce Development Student Internship Program.

“This has truly been a success,” said Dr. Mike Hall, who developed and oversaw the program. “We could not have done this without our business partners and without the students.”

Fourteen students from Pike Liberal Arts School, Goshen High School and Pike County High School participated in the program, which begin in January. The spent a portion of each week working with business partners, from accountants to lawyers to veterinarians, in an effort to develop real-word exposure and workforce experience.

Student participants included Kelli Grant, Kayla Dendy, Kimberly Ellis, Adam Grice, Hays Lee and John David Cox from Pike Liberal Arts School; Jace Warrick, Keijah Calhoun, Haven Dates and Maggie Maulden from Goshen High School; and Emily Caple, Ninti Jackson, Darielle Jackson and Gregory Toney from Pike County High School.

Business partners included First National Bank of Brundidge; Golden Boy Foods; Haisten, Shipman and Wiggins CPAs; Johnson Center for the Arts; Troy Animal Clinic; Troy Bank & Trust; Troy Cable; Virginia Green, attorney; WTBF; City of Brundidge; Johnson Labs; and Gibson and Carden CPAs.

“This has been a tremendous opportunity for all the young people in the room to get some business experience,” said Pike County Probate Judge Wes Allen, who provided the keynote for the luncheon. “This program gives you a chance to see what it takes to run a small business an get up every day and go to work.”

And building on that theme, Allen talked to the students about leadership and its role in their lives.

-“You’re here because somebody in here believed in you and your leadership abilities,” he said. “So I challenge you think about what you’re going to do with that.”

Allen shared seven points for being good leaders. “First, don’t be negative,” he said. “Negativity can bring an organization down.”

Second, he reminded the students that “attitude is a choice.”

“Every morning when we get up we choose what kind of attitude we have that day,” Allen said.

He reiterated that “nothing good comes without hard work” and that good leaders show respect to others, especially elders. “When you meet somebody, look them in the eye, give them a firm handshake and carry on a conversation,” he said.

Leaders also make time for themselves, nurturing their physical, spiritual and mental health, and they take responsibility for their actions, he said.

“The way we learn things in life is through failure,” he said.

Finally, he told them to keep the focus on the main thing. “What’s the main thing in your life?” he said.

Allen also  posed a trio of questions to the students:

“How will you influence people?” he said. “How will you affect other people’s trajectory in life? And will you answer the bell when moral leadership is required?”