BeTempered
BeTempered
BeTempered Episode 54 – Empowered to Lead: The Youth Movement at National Trail
What does real leadership look like in today’s world? At National Trail High School in New Paris, Ohio, the answer isn’t found in titles or authority—it’s found in actions. In this powerful episode of BeTempered, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with the students behind the school’s Renaissance Program, a dynamic, student-led initiative that’s changing the very heartbeat of their school culture.
The Renaissance Program at National Trail isn’t just a club—it’s a movement. Rooted in the national Jostens Renaissance model, this local chapter embraces a vision that celebrates academic achievement, reinforces positive behavior, boosts teacher and student morale, and cultivates a campus where everyone feels seen, valued, and inspired to lead.
Forget what you know about the word “Renaissance.” This isn’t about knights and castles—it’s about revival. A revival of compassion. A revival of empathy. A revival of what it means to care deeply for your community. These students embody the idea that creating a school worth showing up to every day doesn’t require a title or a position—it just requires a willing heart and a commitment to lead by example.
Throughout the conversation, these young leaders open up about what leadership truly means. “A leader steps up willingly,” one student says. “Even knowing they’ll face hardships, they keep going.” They talk openly about the emotional labor of leadership—making space for others, checking in with those who are struggling, and remembering that even the smallest act of kindness can have lasting impact. From surprising office staff with flowers to greeting classmates they barely know, they demonstrate that culture shifts happen not through grand gestures, but consistent, authentic care.
But the conversation doesn’t stop there. They dive into the complexities of growing up in a digital world—navigating social media, staying grounded in their values, and pushing through seasons of burnout and doubt. When asked who they would most like to have a conversation with, nearly all answer the same: Jesus. Not because of religion, but because of the example He set for servant leadership, humility, and love.
Perhaps the most moving moment comes as they reflect on their advisor, Ms. Laird—a teacher who has empowered them to take the reins without ever trying to control the direction. "She knows what we can do," one student says, choking back tears. "And she’s never said no." It’s clear that her belief in them has helped them believe in themselves.
This episode is a window into the future—and it’s hopeful. It’s proof that students today are not only aware of the problems around them—they're actively stepping up to make change. If you've ever doubted whether the next generation is ready to lead, this conversation will set your mind at ease.
Tune in and let the students of National Trail’s Renaissance Program show you how leadership, kindness, and perseverance are still alive—and thriving—in the hallways of a small Ohio high school.
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Speaker 3:Welcome to the Be Tempered podcast, where we explore the art of finding balance in a chaotic world.
Speaker 4:Join us as we delve into insightful conversations, practical tips and inspiring stories to help you navigate life's ups and downs with grace and resilience.
Speaker 3:We're your hosts, Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr. Let's embark on a journey to live our best lives.
Speaker 4:This is Be Tempered.
Speaker 3:What's up everybody? Welcome to the Be Tempered podcast, episode number 54.
Speaker 3:You sure? Yes, Today we have something a little unique. We are at National Trail High School in New Paris, Ohio, and we have a group of students who are here. They are with the Renaissance Program and about I don't know. Two or three months ago, I put a challenge out to this group and I said hey, I'm going to donate some money to the Renaissance Program, which we'll find out all about the Renaissance Program. I'm going to donate some money to the renaissance program, which we'll find out all about the renaissance program. I'm going to donate some money to the program and if you double the money, we'll do a podcast. So here we are. Yeah, good job guys, yeah here we are.
Speaker 3:Good job, good job so we're gonna we're gonna learn a little bit about renaissance. We're gonna learn about leadership, where these young people are at mentally, what, what they look at in a leader, what a leader looks like, all kinds of different things, so that we can get a young individual's perspective this day and age. So, to start off my question to you, when I think of Renaissance, I think of going to Waynesville, ohio to the.
Speaker 3:Renaissance Festival, seeing people dressed up in all that gothic garb, and that's what I think of. But what we're going to find out is that's not the case. So introduce yourself, tell us what Renaissance is.
Speaker 5:Yeah, so I'm Kellen and I'm Kellen, and so Renaissance is a student led leadership group that is used to better the community, create a positive school culture and climate. We want to make sure kids want to come to school, teachers want to come to school, and we just want to boost school spirit and build morale throughout our school. That's really the goal of Renaissance.
Speaker 3:Okay, that's way different than what I thought. All right, so what does being a leader mean to you, and can someone be a leader without having a title?
Speaker 6:So I think a leader is someone that steps up to a position like willingly, they kind of understand that. They understand that they're going to go through hardships and they have a goal or a view that they want to achieve. But I think a leader has to have characteristics with that, so they have to be super open-minded. I think if you close that off, you're automatically going to kind of lose that vision straight away, and when you're a leader you're going to have different ideas thrown at you. You're going to go through hardships, but I think you're there for yourself and to gain other people with you. So as long as you can commit to that vision and continue that, then you'll be a great leader.
Speaker 3:That's a good answer. Yeah, and you're not reading no, that's great. That's great, All right. Who's someone in your life could be a teacher, a coach?
Speaker 5:a friend who leads by example. And what do they do differently? Yeah, so someone that I look at as a leader is my baseball coach. His name's Mr Luce, so I think something he does differently than all my other coaches is he's able to connect with us personally while we're off the field or in between innings or stuff like that, but then as soon as game time comes, it's a completely different person and he's locked in and coaching, and I think that's a very good characteristic in a leader um being able to like switch from different forms um to connect with who you're leading, and he's able to get his message through really well to us by leading by example.
Speaker 5:Um, he never does. He never tells us to do something that he's not going to do. He never. He never doesn't take ownership for when he messes up the same way he tells us to do. And that's hard sometimes because obviously everybody makes mistakes, but he owns up to his mistakes, we own up to our mistakes and it's just like a two way street of respect and I think that's something that I see it's very prevalent in his life as a leader.
Speaker 3:Yeah, sounds like sounds like he's a. He's a great leader.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and that's the big thing too, because you know, when you're nobody's perfect none of us are perfect and especially when you're coached and stuff, I mean that's it's a big thing. We both coach young, young athletes, and some of us a younger age we're like 10, 11 year olds where they're still perfect. But you know, that's the big thing, I feel like if you're open with them, we all make mistakes and I and I feel like that's a really good characteristic, so I love that you said that.
Speaker 5:Do you think being a leader is easy? No, as a short answer, the long answer would be no, but it's worth it. So in my eyes, if you're in a leadership role and you see yourself as wanting to be a leader and you get put into that position, like Spider-Man always said, great power comes with great responsibility right. So you get that being able to take charge of a team, being able to have influence on people's life but in turn, a lot of times when you fail, it's on you as the leader. Right? I mean, we see that all the time in life, let alone in National Trail. But I think it's not easy because one you get, like I said, you get all the losses on you and you have to deal with so many different types of people as a leader. If you're, you know you've got this kid that you have to connect with this way, this kid, you know it spreads out. But I think it's worth it when you have accomplishments and you can celebrate with your team and your family that you're leading.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a good answer. The highs are high and the lows are lows, right, and you've just got to try to stay somewhere in the middle.
Speaker 4:So good answer, all right. So how can students create a more positive culture in their schools even without formal roles? And you guys can go ahead and introduce yourselves.
Speaker 7:I'm Lexi, I'm a junior. So basically, yeah, go ahead, morgan, I'm Morgan. So basically, me and Morgan do a lot of the same things. We're both in a lot of clubs. We're both in a lot of different groups. But one thing different about me and her is that she's a Renaissance officer and I'm not. I've taken on a leadership role in FAA and I've been an officer in there for many years, but since we're in the same groups, I'm involved just as much as she is.
Speaker 7:So you don't have to be an officer in renaissance. Because I didn't want to take on too much and put too much on my plate, so I decided to not take a position this year in renaissance. But we do the same exact things. You don't have to be considered an officer. You can still be a member and still be involved. So we try to urge all of our members and other students that are wanting to join and wanting to get involved in their school to just go ahead and step forward. You cannot have any dumb ideas in Renaissance. We try to take everything into consideration. See what we can try to get done, things like that. You know we try to get everyone involved as much as possible because we want that positive impact in school. That is the whole point of Renaissance. So nice.
Speaker 3:A lot of energy. I it, I like it all right. What impact has renaissance program had on your school spirit and student recognition?
Speaker 8:so I think for me one of the big things is everybody knows that like I have a lot of school spirit. You know, at the pep rallies, games or whatever, I'm always big energy and stuff and I'm trying to get other people involved and have as much energy as they can too, and I think renaissance has kind of put that into perspective for me. Uh, when you know, I can walk down the hallway and then we can connect with the younger grades and stuff too, and they'd be like oh we, we were at your, we were at the boys game, we saw Morgan, energetic, loud you, we want to be like that. Or we saw how the student section was. We want to be like that. And I just think getting everybody involved has created so much more of a positive impact. You know, when we go to our Renaissance rallies, everybody's getting involved, we're getting more energy out of everybody and I think that's really like the huge idea.
Speaker 3:That's good, that's good.
Speaker 4:Yeah, everybody, and I think that's really like the huge idea. That's good. That's good. Yeah, how does celebrating the small wins, like good attendance or kindness, help shift the overall culture and go ahead and introduce your guys yourselves?
Speaker 9:okay, I'm Isabel and I'm a senior. I'm Hannah and I'm also a senior. So, um, like being here for four years now, we've got to witness how it's changed throughout our school. When I first started, like as freshman, not a single person in the hallway was saying hi to each other, unless they were friends and me personally, I know we wouldn't go up and compliment anybody, but as we've been through Renaissance, it's really opened our eyes of just how saying somebody is worthy of something or they're loved, how much it actually changes the personality of the people you're talking to because, like you never know what somebody's going through, especially when you're in school. Like there's kids that are going home who absolutely do not want to be going home, and like schools are only safe space and there may be kids that have never been told that somebody's proud of them before and like for somebody to do it, especially classmates that are their own age. It's incredible and it just makes everybody like want to come to school more and be like more excited to be here.
Speaker 3:I guess yeah, those little things, like the small amounts that we do speak volumes, like in the school, even if they're bigger or larger yeah, it's important and I think the key thing that you said and it's it's the the main reason that we do the podcast is everybody's got a story right. Everybody in this room has a story and it's different. Some of you have some pretty big challenges at home. Some of you don't. In this school, I'm sure there's many kids who, like you said, go home in the evening and don't want to go home. They may not even get meals over the weekend. The only meals they may get are here at school.
Speaker 3:So it's important for you, young people, as leaders, to say hello, to say good morning, to have that conversation. If you see a kid sitting in the lunchroom by himself, sit down and just introduce yourself and have that conversation. That's what being a leader is all about. You don't have to scream and yell. You don't have to get everybody excited all the time. There's time for that in different aspects of life, but for the most part, it's just about being there for other people. So good answer of life, but for the most part, it's just about being there for other people.
Speaker 9:So I feel like it's also really important to like talk about the staff too, because, like we normally focus on just like the students, but like if students are here and their staff doesn't want to be here, they're in the teachers to see on. Like they seem like down in the dumps, like they don't even like their job, like if you're like we recognize the staff like a lot, like just the other day we brought flowers to our offices and just a smile puts on their face and it makes them want to come to work and it just better like the whole vibe here yeah, and it goes back to the same thing.
Speaker 3:It's not just the kids facing trouble or difficulties at home. The staff does too, right they have. They have issues at home, things that they have to deal with that. Um, you know that adults have to deal with that. Maybe kids don't so it. So it's important not just with the kids but with the adults. So it's pretty awesome. Good answer. All right, next up, introduce yourselves who we got here.
Speaker 11:All right, I'm Kylie and I'm a senior and this is my first year in the program.
Speaker 3:All right, Kylie.
Speaker 12:I'm Jalen and this is my second year.
Speaker 3:Come a little closer to the mic. There, jalen and this is my second year come a little closer to the mic. Yeah, there we go, all right. What are the biggest challenges high school students face today that adults might not fully understand?
Speaker 11:I think that one of the biggest challenges the students face is not being able to realize that they have a voice. So, like I said, this is my first year in the program and I spent my last year. Last school year was a really big struggle for me and I spent my whole year in Ms Laird's room, so I got to see all of the things that the Renaissance Club did and I realized I really wanted to be a part of that. So joining this club gave me a voice and gave me a way to get my ideas out and realize that the things that I do really do matter. And I think that that's important for students to realize, because once that they can see that they are able to voice their own opinions and get the things that they want done, then they'll be in a better mood and they'll be ready to face the things that their life is going to challenge them with.
Speaker 3:All right, that's a great answer, young man.
Speaker 12:I think, like you guys kind of said, that too, everybody's different, it's really hard to fit in Everybody's different and I don't know, it's just hard to fit in everybody's different, and I don't know, it's just hard, I don't know. I don't know, I'm sorry, no, no, you're good so why is it hard?
Speaker 3:because what? What I, what you might be getting at, is not. Not everybody is a leader, right, and and just because you're a part of the renaissance program, where you're trying trying to shape leadership and to learn about leadership, it doesn't mean that you're a leader and that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that right. You still have your place in life, you still have your purpose in life and you can still be a good person and a good individual, right.
Speaker 12:Yeah, I was kind of the same way with Kylie. I have a couple friend groups, but I kind of don't. I do sit by myself at lunch, but that's also kind of just like my calm down. I just like to cool down from everybody, just because I don't like everybody, and that's all right, because it's just and that's okay. Yeah, right, that's okay. But I really do like to help everybody too. I like to put smiles on people's faces and that's really just a big thing that we do here.
Speaker 3:Well, and I think Ed Milet is a guy who I'm inspired by. He's a big podcaster and he always says when you feel helpless, get helpful, right. So when you feel like you're down in the dumps, when you've had a a bad day, you failed a test or something happened, turn around and go help somebody. And again, it can be something as simple as just having a conversation. Right, you don't have to go out of your way to to to do some some big, extravagant thing, it's just go have a conversation with somebody and that'll make you feel better. That'll turn that, turn that day into a positive, and what you'll recognize is there's a lot of people out there that have a lot worse than you do. Right, that's the big thing.
Speaker 4:So good job, good auntie, and it's okay to be an introvert too, you know, yeah, like not everybody's outgoing and like that's just because you're not a extrovert, you're an introvert doesn't mean you can't help people. I love that. Yeah, like you know, you still take that confidence and go, try to help people. So the second part of the question how has social media helped or hurt your generation when it comes to confidence, connection and leadership?
Speaker 7:So there's so many pros and cons to social media. We've grown up in a generation where that's what we've been surrounded with since we've been born and so you know we've had to experience both the pros and cons pretty much everyone has. So there's many cons. We've had to experience the cons. You can't get on social media without, you know, seeing something you don't want to see, hearing something you don't want to hear. That's just the experience that we have now in this day and age.
Speaker 7:So it ruins people's, like the cons are. It ruins people's perceptions of themselves. You know the way people view themselves. It can tear down their self-confidence a million times over and over again. It opens a big way for cyberbullying and for people to kind of you know, tear people down, which isn't the intent of it. But people are going to use things the way they want to use things, so you can't really control that. You know they can post whatever they want. They can tear things down. So you can be a leader on social media but at the same time there's so many cons that you really have to be careful what you watch and what you see and what shows up on like your for you page or what you see on Instagram and stuff like that.
Speaker 9:And like I truly like she said, like all the cons and most of those, if you just flip it and look at it from a different perspective, they're all pros, so you can find people that you may have never seen before in your life like we. Like we met people at a conference we went to last year schools that are in states away and we still can keep like contact with them and see what they're doing and we can get new ideas from it. But, like she said, like there's also really bad things that come along with it. But if I'm somebody who's on there and I may find not have friends in person, but if I have friends online, that may give me something to look forward to every day. It really just depends on how you use it yourself.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you're right. I always in my mind, you can change your algorithm, right? You know, you, what you look at, what you like, what you click on, what you share, that that forms that algorithm and whether it's Instagram, snapchat, TikTok, whatever it is algorithm, and whether it's Instagram, snapchat, tiktok, whatever it is, whatever social media that you're on, there are a lot of positive things out there, but there are also, like you said, there's, a lot of negative things. How many people post that they had a bad day?
Speaker 7:Not many. It's a very fake world out there most of the time. That's right.
Speaker 3:And as young people you have to keep that in perspective. You know Ben and I are old men at least Ben is and you know so we weren't raised with social media. That didn't come.
Speaker 4:I don't even know when that came for me it came out when I was in high school, so somebody's an old man.
Speaker 3:I was in the working force then. But people can post, they can make things look extravagant. I mean, you can go rent a Lamborghini and you can take a picture with a Lamborghini and make it look like you own a Lamborghini, but you don't. That's all fake stuff. So I would encourage you, if you're looking through your feed and all of a sudden you just start sucking the life out of you like man. There's fights, there's all this negative stuff on here start looking at something else. Start looking for that positive. Go to the be tempered podcast. Go check that out. There's some positive stuff there, right? So, yeah, you're right, social media is a huge influence on this generation, way more than I mean. I have no clue about how it affects everybody, but you can make that negative a positive, yeah.
Speaker 7:I mean it can be super positive, super helpful not to shamelessly plug our own social media. But Renaissance.
Speaker 7:We post on there all the time. We try to, you know, have all of our students follow it, all of our staff follow it, and then so we try to recognize our students, our members, of what we're doing and what we're going out to do. So then we're connecting with other Renaissance clubs. This is how they reach out to us. This is how we share all of our community service things that we want our community to come to, all of our events, everything like that. So it can be really helpful. You just have to make sure that you're trying to stay on the right algorithm and make sure that you're watching the right stuff, especially as teenagers, because it can really change change the way you perceive the world and the way it's going to be when you're, when you grow up and you graduate high school yeah, that's great, all right.
Speaker 3:Next question what kind of pressure do you feel when it comes to grades, sports or being successful?
Speaker 13:yeah. So I'm miranda and I'm a senior and it's really hard keeping up and having good grades, as well as like being in sports and being involved in a lot of clubs like I'm in Renaissance and FFA and NHS. So, like pressure for my parents to have those good grades is definitely very helpful, because that's what's gotten me into college and it's getting me the scholarships I need to pay for that. But at the same time, it's been stressful sometimes with, like trying to make sure my grades are as high as they can be and things like that yeah.
Speaker 8:So I think one thing is like in life, everybody sets goals and everybody has different goals that they set. So my goals might be different from other people in my grade or other people in the school or just any people like my age. But I think it's all about like you as a person, and obviously there is stress when it comes to grades and everything, but for me it's really just as long as I'm doing the best that I can possibly do, then I feel like that's what I'm succeeding in in life and that, even if you know, like I were to get a bad grade or something, that that one bad grade isn't gonna define who I am as a person and that I'm still you know, I'm still smart, even if I do bad on a test. Like you know, as long as I'm doing the best that I can, I think that's what matters. So, like, within the stress, it's just finding the little things like to make it seem better.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Great answers. And that's the key that you'll find as you mature and as you get older and get married and maybe have a family and get into the real world is, in my opinion, the key to being successful in whatever you're going to do is just being consistent. Just being consistent to try to reach whatever that goal is doing, whatever it takes to reach. You know to do that every single day to get to that goal. Consistency is key. So great answers.
Speaker 4:What do you wish more adults would ask or talk to you guys about?
Speaker 14:do you wish more adults would ask or talk to you guys about Okay, I'm Hayden Davies and I'm a junior this year, so I would say that obviously things have really changed, probably since you guys were in middle school or high school, and it's something like social media especially. I mean you said it was when you were right out of high school and you were still in high school. Humor has definitely changed, I would say. And like like fashion, I wish that you know. The older generations would maybe ask like what do what does that joke mean? Even if it's maybe not actually the funniest or the most appropriate. Like I don't know, I think that would build a better connection. Or like what is the appeal with that fashion trend? Like I don't know something like that.
Speaker 15:My name is Jalen, I'm a sophomore and I think that the parents, or like adults, should maybe, as high schoolers, not treat us like such kids and give us more of a realistic, because right out of high school we're going to be in the job force, we're going to be working or through college and nothing's going to be babied for us anymore. So I feel like we should start off with that in high school or as we get older, and the adults should just treat us more as adults.
Speaker 3:So do you feel like there's this protective umbrella over top of you?
Speaker 15:Yeah, just a little bit, especially like from our parents.
Speaker 3:They don't want us to grow up, but we're obviously going to as we get older and I can speak as a parent that that's a hard thing and you'll find this out as you become a parent. You, you know every, every parent you talk to. They always say I want my kid to have it better than I had it right. Well, I, I think you know, with ke, kevin and Ben and I and Mrs Laird in here, I think we would all tell you the same thing when we've learned the most, where we've grown the most, is in those difficult times. Those struggles, whatever it might be, the hardest times I've had in my life, are the ones that I remember. I don't remember all the wins. I don't remember, you know, the great days. I remember the struggles and what I learned from that.
Speaker 3:And as a parent, it's hard, it's hard to do that. So I'm not going to defend your parents, even though I know who they are. But you know maybe that maybe, as as young adults as you all are, maybe you say, hey, let me try this. If I fall on my face and I fail, I'm going to learn from it. Right, I think maybe sometimes you younger kids, if you feel that pull, if you feel like why are they protecting me, why are they doing this, just say, hey look, let me give it a try. I might fail, but what's the worst thing that can happen? Right, you're going to learn from it, right? So I think that's key and, like I said, I'm going to defend the parents a little bit, but I get it and it's. It's interesting to hear that from you.
Speaker 14:Yeah, I also feel like in a lot of ways too, as far as like the school aspect of it is, like teachers and just the way that all schools are kind of like built to run, is they train us to test and to graduate and they forget about the fact that we still have like maybe 50 years after we get out of here.
Speaker 3:We don't want to talk about all that. It's a whole different realm, but you guys are on the right path, doing Renaissance. I mean, this is a great thing to give you some real life, real world experience. So great answers.
Speaker 4:I do love that answer too. I feel like that's not something we were expecting. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:No, I wasn't yeah, for sure that's good.
Speaker 4:It's a good one for the parents to take note of.
Speaker 3:That's right, all right. If you could give advice to incoming freshmen, what would it be?
Speaker 16:So I'm Caitlin and I'm a senior and looking back on my four years I would definitely tell not only my freshman self but all the freshmen coming in to not change for other people, like your friend groups, don't feel that pressure. I used to be a really big people pleaser. I would say yes to everything kind of feel bad. But I had to learn myself to set those boundaries even if it didn't make other people happy. But I had to put my happiness and my future above anything else.
Speaker 3:That's a great answer, great answer.
Speaker 6:So mine kind of goes off of Caitlin's. I would say get comfortable with change. And from freshman to senior year, I can't. I can give you a whole list of how many things has changed. And my next year going to college, I already know how much change is coming my way. And I was someone who was shy. I would get nervous. I'm a whole different person now. I remember going to my conference last year for Renaissance and I was speaking and the girl was like, how are you so good at public speaking? And I was like me, like you're talking to me right now? And she's like, yeah, well, I have a student like I just want to know if you have any tips. And I was like, oh, this just happened today like. I can't tell you and I was.
Speaker 6:That's when it really clicked, like okay, my personality is finally developing, like I think I'm going to be an independent person for college, I have my own personality and I'm getting out of my house, where then I can really just blossom to the person I want to be. But I also think that every person should be changing, and if you're not changing, you're probably doing something wrong. And change can be good and bad, and I think if you focus on the good and what you want to become, that's where change is very important. So I think a freshman should be comfortable with it now, because it's going to happen every year, it's going to happen every month. You've got to get used to it now.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's, that's great answer. We talk about get comfortable, being uncomfortable, right? I mean that? That is that is very true, and you hit the nail on the head. So good answers, both of you All right. How do we stay motivated and inspired when things aren't going your way?
Speaker 17:Okay, my name is Kinsey, I'm a sophomore and I feel like staying motivated is something really hard that we all struggle with, whether you're a kid or whether you're an adult, because, like, we're all waking up and we're going through our struggles, like an adult is going to work, a kid's going to school or whatever it might be a sport, it's repetitive and it's exhausting, and staying motivated is something that we all struggle with. I feel like everyone does, and I feel like something that's always stuck with me is that, like this quote is do it exhausted, do it tired, do it happy, do it sad. Just do it with whatever you have in you, because not everybody gets to do that, not everybody gets to say, okay, I'm, I'm in track. Not everybody gets to go run around the track, not everybody gets to wake up every, every morning and go be active. And I just feel like something that like just truly motivates me is that quote it and it inspires me to push myself each and every day do you know who said that quote?
Speaker 3:no, jocko Willink. He's a. He's a former Navy SEAL. So that's a great quote, and that's discipline is what it is. Is that what you got, kellen um?
Speaker 5:yeah, I think like different ways you can stay motivated or inspiring that have helped me a lot is, um, like relying on the people around you. Um, you know, a lot of times if you're going through a situation or a hardship and you're struggling to find the motivation to wake up every day and get out of bed and go to school for students and you know students like us um, then you know, maybe ask your friends or ask people around you like to hype you up a little bit. You know like it helps a lot when you feel that other people want me to do this too, not just myself. You know other people look at me and say you know I want the best for him. So then you can want the best for yourself, and I think I think that's really powerful when it comes to motivating and inspiring yourself, for sure.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah. So who you surround yourself with, iron sharpens.
Speaker 5:Iron, that's what I always go off of, and if you surround yourself people you want to be, that's who you're most likely going to become right yeah, and I think, also there, there needs to be more of an importance placed on finding yourself uh, you know, motivation and things like that, because I feel like that's part of the center of our whole being is being motivated, right, like nothing you do in life can be done to the best of its ability if you don't have motivation behind it, if you have no why or no reason to do something, then you're not going to give it your all and you're not going to do it the best you can.
Speaker 5:So I think there needs to be more of an importance placed on that, especially in schools, because you know teachers say, well, you know you just need to get it done. Right, get it done, get it done. Well, why do I need to get it done? That gives me motivation, you know, yeah, so I think that's part of something that needs to change throughout schools is giving us the why, because the why is why we want to do it.
Speaker 4:Motivation, you know yeah, good answer, a really good answer. What's one small thing every student could do this week to make their school better?
Speaker 10:okay. So I'm Claire and this is my first year in renaissance, so like the easy answer would be go out the week with a positive attitude. I think it's so easy, like nowadays, for kids to go to school and be like, oh, I hate school, I don't want to go to class, or just like look at it so negatively. And so I think just going out the week with positive attitude and really just looking at the good things, like you see someone in the hallway you don't know, say hi. I say hi to like anyone because I don't care. Like what are they going to do? Say like no.
Speaker 5:Like no, they're going to say hi.
Speaker 10:Or like talked about seeing people eating alone at lunch. Go sit with them Like what's the worst, like you're literally just going to eat your food and you can spark a conversation and just talk. Like nothing bad will come from having a positive attitude. Like go up to someone and tell a joke okay, I love jokes, I tell jokes all the time Like just really the positive attitude about it, and that could really just make it better.
Speaker 3:Good answer.
Speaker 18:Hey, I'm Taryn. This is also my first New Year Renaissance. But I know for a lot of people it's hard to stay positive and like to go through things throughout the day and like you never know what someone's going through. So like walking through the halls and just like what Claire said, just saying hi to them, or like giving them a compliment, like hey, I like your hair, hey, I like your shirt, that can really make someone's day and you really don't know it.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, yeah, and that's you know. It's all about compounding, right? You say you know, if you see a young student, a fifth grade student, you say hi to them every day, you develop a relationship every day with them. They may do the same thing with a second grader. You know who's struggling. So it's all about compounding those positive things. So, great answers, ladies, great answers. All right, we're getting down to the end here, all right? So this is where we should have some powerful answers. Okay, you guys have knocked it out of the park, but let's see what we got. So we always end the podcast with these last two questions and you guys can fire away however you want to go. If you could have a conversation with someone, living or deceased, who would it be and why?
Speaker 5:I think all of us, we kind of like, talked about this a little bit and we all have the same answer and this is not, you know, a certain answer for a certain reason. But we all said Jesus, I think we all are Christian. But that's not you don't like, but, I think, the reason why I don't know what to assume. But we, we wanted to all talk to Jesus because you know it's, he's such a big part of all of our lives, you know, and he's such a great role model, right? So when someone comes up to me and says you know who's, like, your biggest role model, right, I always say Jesus.
Speaker 5:And I think that's for me and especially in our aspect in life and schools. Right, like, you know, I feel like there's kind of been a thing, like in schools where we don't talk about religion. Right, there's like a what's the word? Not by like teachers, not by like teachers, but students, like among ourselves, right, like it's. It feels like there's like a negative connotation to talking about religion, like, oh, we shouldn't be talking about that, right? But I think, I think, if, if I had a conversation with Jesus first off, that would be crazy, but it would kind of, it would shape me to be a better leader for one, talking about what we've been talking about Right Cause he was the best leader in my opinion. I mean he led. He led all throughout the you know, all throughout the promised land. He led people in scriptures, he led people in preaching, and that would help me as an individual, like outside of my spiritual being as well, being able to like learn from him and have him guide me. But anybody have anything else to add about?
Speaker 9:that I feel like he said, like a lot of us, like we're looking to Jesus for our answer, like a lot of times we get lost and we don't know exactly where we're going next. And I know, like me personally, like I'm looking to him and seeing what he's saying to me, to like be able to do, like without him, like I would not probably be able to do half the stuff I'm doing, like he's putting me in these positions to have all these opportunities, and like we have to give thanks to him. And like I know the saying is like what would Jesus do and wear it on the wrist all the time? Like I don't know if everybody really thinks about it, but if we like strive to live more like him and like answer in ways he would, I think that can help us get further along.
Speaker 4:I'll tell you the rest of your life. That's probably where you need to keep looking for your answers, Cause if you do that, you're going to be successful.
Speaker 3:Yeah that's right. Other ladies got anything to add? Does anyone else have have someone that they that may be different that they want to talk about? This is your chance. Nobody. All right, we'll move to the final question. You guys have any closing thoughts? Are there any quotes? Could be a bible verse that when times are tough and when you've had a bad day or you're down in the dumps, or maybe you've lost a loved one, you know, maybe there's been something tragic that has happened where you know it's just knocked the wind out of your sails. Is there a quote? Is there something that you fall back on that gets you through that time?
Speaker 8:you fall back on. That gets you through that time. I think for me, one of the things is and it was briefly mentioned kind of earlier talking about it's like finding your why and finding you know what you're doing, why you're doing it, what your purpose is for it, and that's what really kind of keeps me going. Is you know, why am I, you know, trying so hard in school, why am I trying so hard in sports and putting in all this extra time outside of it? It's just the reasons behind it that are backing me up to keep going to reach my goals. And you know like better myself as a person. And I think really that's what you know, like finding that is kind of what keeps me going.
Speaker 3:Great answer, anybody else?
Speaker 5:keeps me going. Great answer, Anybody else? No quotes. Well, you said something about a Bible verse, and one that really resonates with me is be still and know that I am your God, and I think that's so powerful to people discouraged.
Speaker 5:because be still, like right now I'm shaking right, so like because I'm nervous, right, or like when you get scared or when youble, or when you feel like you have anxiety or you feel like you're going through something hard. Right, it's hard to take that moment of like deep breath and just center yourself, but that's what God can do in our lives, right? And you know, having a, like you said, who would I want to have a conversation with Well, as a Christian, I can have it with him every day in prayer and things like that, and knowing that he's always there for me to rely on, he's never going to change, and that's just so motivating for me and that could get me through a hard time, I know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, man that's. I wasn't expecting that, no it's amazing, though.
Speaker 4:I mean it's awesome.
Speaker 3:It is, and you know I have a this. This place holds a special place in my heart because this is where I spent 13 years of my life. Um, and every time I walk in here, I just get a good feeling and, um, what I want to do right now is I want to put roxanne on the mic. So so come on, roxanne.
Speaker 3:I know you weren't expecting this and I know you don't want this, but I think it's pretty obvious from hearing these young men and women's answers to their questions. You know how they speak, how they carry themselves. I mean, I know that you can't. If you're watching on YouTube right now, you can't see everybody surrounding this place. You can't see all the lights and the camera, all the glitz and glamour and Ben's makeup on his cheeks and all that stuff. But there's a reason these kids are like this, right, and I know a lot of that is their parents, but it also falls on the leadership of the teachers, you being one of those. So can you talk about because you're new newer to running the renaissance program, right?
Speaker 19:newer to running it by myself by yourself, yeah assisted for several years, but taking the reins and going with it, yes yes, can you talk about what the Renaissance program means to you?
Speaker 19:Yeah. So back to your opening statement what is Renaissance and what it makes you think of? So my youngest child is turning 24. My oldest is in his 30s. So come through National Trail. He's in Renaissance. They're doing activities.
Speaker 19:As a parent I was like what is it you're doing, what? What are you going to what? What is Renaissance? Like I had no idea. Even my second child goes through.
Speaker 19:I still didn't really have a good idea. I knew they did things at school and they were part of things and it was fun for them and it was active. But still as a parent or as an outside community member, I really didn't know what it was all about. And I've always been friends with Mrs Hoke our kids have grown up together. I knew she was super involved. But again, I didn't know exactly what all they did in school. I wasn't teaching at the school at the time. So then my youngest gets up and she's all about it. She's, you know, an officer of you know, like these kids getting out there and putting yourself out into the community, to the activities, to the appreciation days, everything. So I kind of learned with her and then that was the first year that I kind of got on Like that was the first year we took students to the Jostens Renaissance Conference in Florida.
Speaker 19:Because she was like, hey, hey, we're going to do this, we're going to jump on board. So that was in. 2018 was my first year as far as actually knowing like, okay, what's going on? Now we kind of get it. So then, you know, I started kind of getting the feel for that's when I started teaching in high school at National Trail. That's when I was like, oh, okay, I get it. You know, this is great for the students, like this is life, this is what they're going to be doing in the future. And then I moved on to do FCS classes, which is the same thing. It's life skills. It's what they're going to do forever. They're going to do all of their you know core classes and they're going to forget it. They're going to pass it. They're going to pass it. They're going to do great. I support them 100%, but they're not going to do all of those for the rest of their lives.
Speaker 2:You're right.
Speaker 19:It may get them to another step, but Renaissance to me fits into that life skills, just like my classwork does. So that's why I felt like I was a pretty good match for that. And then we just kept going and going and going and getting involved with other groups, kept going and going and going and getting involved with other groups, you know, and the kids kind of caught on like, hey, this is pretty fun, this is beneficial, I'm helping other people, I'm doing positive things for my community. So that's kind of my journey with it and where it went with it. And now we're just going to keep going.
Speaker 3:So, as we near the end of the school year, with this being your first official group on your own, what does this senior group, what do they mean to you?
Speaker 19:Wow. Well, so the seniors that are saying that this is their fourth year as freshmen. I kind of watched them just jump in. I knew a little bit but I wasn't as involved that year because I was off doing other things. Like just watching the part as them growing and changing as individuals has been really good Last year in Florida at the conference, just like watching them take off and just they can do this.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 19:And you get the whole like teenagers these days. Oh my gosh, what are these kids doing? Well, I see the other side of that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's powerful. Yeah, Now I want you to stay up there and I want the rest of you students to come in, and what I want is I don't care who it is, but I want one of you to step up and I want you to talk about what Mrs Laird has meant to the program this year.
Speaker 6:So whoever wants to say a few things about Mrs Laird and her leadership, go ahead. Okay, so I've known Ms Laird almost my whole life, so this is going to be kind of emotional. Um, actually, ms Laird is normally Roxanne to me personally and some other people. Um, she was my preschool, so me and my sister both went there. Um, and I remember seeing Ms Laird's family there her daughters, I would you know. They were just fun, like all my teachers' kids, like I see them out in public. And then Ms Layard was also my cheer coach for all my life. So Pee Wee I was, she did all my little dances. We went to Florida together for nationals, with my sister as well.
Speaker 6:So to most of these students this is like also her kids. We've grown up with her and when she started Renaissance I think she kind of knew like they got it. They got it all the way. She's known us our whole life and she knows we had it in us. She would push us. She's honest with us, she'll ask us questions, she's not afraid of our answers and she pushes the students, the staff, the principals, the superintendent, everybody to be better. She knows what she wants and she wants it positive and we're here to back her up for all of her hard work. She puts in so much. She does so much for all of her classes, for everyone. She's never said no, which is normally a lot for the club, because we never say no, but it's's always worth it and we always are here to back her up oh, that's great.
Speaker 3:That's powerful. Anybody else want to say anything um?
Speaker 9:I think like a big thing she pointed out is that she's always honest with us. Like a lot of the time, adults and staff like they see us and like they're like, oh, we shouldn't tell them that we shouldn't. Like make sure, like we're trying to keep it on the low, like let's not share it. She's willing to tell us what's going on, even if it's the hard stuff and stuff that is going to be something that may be a lot for us to take on. She's always willing to be open and have those discussions with us and she really wants to hear what we have to say, which a lot of times it's not exactly what all adults think.
Speaker 9:A lot of our community they're like, what is this club like? Why are they doing this? Like? And she's the complete opposite. Like she wants us to be able to do what we can do and, like Bree said, she knows what we can do. Like we went to Florida last summer and we got to talk in front of a bunch of kids, like hundreds, and she never once made us do anything we wanted. Like she let us do what we could do and never like was critiquing it nothing and just kept going and telling us we were doing great, and I think that's really important because, like for us to be able to be leaders, we have to have a leader to show us how to, and I think she has done that.
Speaker 3:That's pretty awesome.
Speaker 8:I think, like her and Mrs Hoke have just been like perfect people for this role, like we wouldn't be here without them. They've you like we literally wouldn't be doing this podcast Seriously, like they've helped us, you know grow the club so much and you know now we have they've helped start like the middle school and elementary renaissance too. So you know, it just keeps growing and it's doing great things because of them.
Speaker 5:So Miss Laird is my aunt and my neighbor, so I see her quite often Along with that. I think it's really important that all of us recognize how much of a burden this is on Miss Laird in a good way. But most of the time when you see Miss Laird in Renaissance she is would you say stressed is the right word to use Because we do so much and she is the one that sets everything up, makes sure that we as a group make sure, gets everything done, and she just does this because she wants to. Right, like there was no expectation for her to do this, she just did it. Um, and that's meant so much in my life, growing up with her as my aunt and to turning into my teacher and to turning into my renaissance advisor, like it's just 360, like insane, um, but I just wanted to point that out, that she does so much for us when she doesn't have to, and yeah, that's pretty awesome, roxanne.
Speaker 3:How does that make you feel Pretty good, makes it worth it, yeah, yeah, I mean this is powerful. I mean this is obviously doing a podcast like this is very new to us in this type of setting, but I don't think it could have went any better in this type of setting. But I don't think it could have went any better. I mean, you are all a very impressive young group of individuals who are going to be successful in life, and it's nice to hear the positive things about your teacher, because she is a leader and she's someone that you want to emulate and want to follow, and so it's pretty awesome to see. So last question If there's a, if there's a superintendent out there, a principal out there who hears this episode and they want to learn more about Renaissance, how can they get that information?
Speaker 8:Contact us Well we're looking for a high school principal, so we have social media on everything.
Speaker 7:We've had multiple schools email us. We have websites for Just National Trail. We have our Instagram, our social media, our TikTok, all of it. We have every single thing. So when kids see us, when adults see us, when they want to reach out to us, we're always going to answer. We're always going to try to meet up with them. We're always going to try to get with them because we've seen the effect that we've it's had on our school. We want to make sure that we're reaching that to the other kids. We want to make sure that every school in the county has a renaissance. Everyone in the county loves going to school everyone in ohio, if we can even reach that far. But we're just really hoping that kids are more willing to go to school. It's a more positive experience and it's not something they dread every single day of their life.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. So we're in 27 countries. So for those people who are not in the New Paris Ohio area, I want to make sure that we're clear that we are in rural Preble County, ohio. What's the graduating class this year?
Speaker 9:Seventy-five yeah.
Speaker 3:Seventy-four-ish, Seventy-five yeah, Somebody on the fence maybe. So what a small rural school in eastern or western Ohio on Interstate 70 can do in a small way can help so many. So continue to lead, continue to be a positive influence on those you come in contact, even if those people aren't positive. Back to you, right? Those are all things you are learning and you're recognizing and you're understanding. So thank you for being on the podcast.
Speaker 9:Thank you for having us. You know what they say it's better to be a blazer.
Speaker 3:There you go. There you go. All right, everybody, Make sure you like you share, subscribe. If there's any administrators out there at other schools that want to learn more about the program, search up National Trail and New Paris, Ohio. You'll be able to get that information there and talk to Mrs Laird and these awesome students and go out and be.
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