Leadership Kearney Class #35 September Retreat Session

Leadership Kearney Class #35 kicked off its retreat session with two days full of learning, community connections, leadership development, team building, and lots of fun and laughter at Camp Comeca.

Thursday morning started at Younes Conference Center South with headshots and a class photo by Hannah-Jean Photography before diving into our first Pillars of Kearney panel discussion. We heard from Bill Maendele, Vice Chairman of the Buffalo County Board of Commissioners; Ray Longoria, YMCA Program Director; Sarah Focke, Director of Visit Kearney; and Trevor Lee, President of the Development Council for Buffalo County. These speakers represented the pillars of government, recreation, tourism, and economic development within Kearney. Each shared a unique perspective on the people, organizations, and opportunities that are helping move Kearney forward, as well as the challenges each sector is working to overcome.

The morning continued with a Predictive Index presentation, giving us a chance to learn more about our own personalities and how we can effectively communicate and work with different personality types to achieve the best results. We learned that our Leadership Kearney class is filled with a wide range of personality types that make us especially well equipped to be adaptive.

We then heard from the second Pillars of Kearney panel, which focused on education, business, healthcare, and religion. Panelists included Matthew Rogers, Principal at Kearney Catholic High School; Kyle Sayler, owner of Sayler Screenprinting, The Knot Shop, and Kyle Sayler Music; Matthew Shipp, Physical Therapist at New West Sports Medicine; and Rev. Neal Hock of the UNK Newman Center. The conversation gave us valuable insight into how each of these areas is changing and growing within the Kearney community.

After lunch, we headed to Camp Comeca in Cozad. Matt Meister led us through a Colors presentation that gave us a new and unique view of our personalities. We enjoyed finding out whether we are a red, blue, yellow, or white personality type and then used that information to navigate the challenges that came up during the leadership and team-building activities throughout the rest of the day. A scenic sunset hike and campfire topped off an action-packed day. A special thank-you to the Camp Comeca staff for welcoming us and helping make our retreat such a memorable experience!

Friday morning brought more adventure and team building with zip lining and archery, followed by a planning session for our class volunteer project and heading back to Kearney.

The retreat was a great start to our Leadership Kearney journey, giving Class #35 the opportunity to learn more about our community, ourselves, and each other.

- Written By Sarah Barfknecht