Inaugural leadership program conducted for students of Olcott Schools

Col. Henry Steele Olcott Memorial Sports Foundation conducted the inaugural leadership program for students of Olcott Schools, Nalanda, Dharmasoka, Maliyadeva, Rahula, Dharmaraja, Mahinda and Ananda Colleges, from 19 and 21 January. It was a residential workshop hosted at Kithusevena on Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo. The Principals of the respective schools nominated 4 students from each school, who had either completed their A Levels in 2017, or those who would be sitting for the A Levels in 2018.

The workshop, which would normally be offered to entry level management trainees in the private sector, included topics such as leadership, motivation, communication, team building, time management, planning, selecting a career path, etc. The workshop was facilitated by the experienced HR professional and lecturer Denuka Perera, and included several team activities and games to facilitate the learning process, which the students enjoyed very much.

Dhammika Kalapuge and Sanjiva Senanayake were the guest speakers, who spoke on ‘Personal Effectiveness’ and ‘Col. Henry Steel Olcott’ respectively.

Although this inaugural leadership program was restricted to the member schools of the Col. Henry Steele Olcott Memorial Sports Foundation, in the coming years the Foundation expects to offer this annual program to students from other schools as well, like its annual Quiz Program, which has grown to include 20 leading schools over the past 4 years.

The total cost of this residential program was met by well-wishers of the Foundation Rahula Dassanaike, Mohan Mabotuwana and Harsha Gunasekera, who have assured their support in the coming years as well.

The president of the Foundation is past national cricketer Jayantha Seneviratne and the project Chairman was Kumar Weerasuriya.