Activities keep Legion students busy

For the past three days, the 54 Legionnaires attending the 12th annual National American Legion College in Indianapolis have been immersed in concentrated classroom and small group activities, conducted by course developer Matt Herndon as well as Americanism and Children & Youth Division Deputy Director Mike Buss and Assistant Director Jason Kees. The diverse group of students were chosen by their state department to attend the weeklong program that began Oct. 24 and concludes with graduation ceremonies this Friday.

The program got under way with a memorial service in the National Executive Committee room at The American Legion National Headquarters followed by a synopsis of the course from Herndon.

"We have a very full schedule of topics to cover in a short period of time," Herndon said. "The course consists of classroom presentations and discussions, as well as small group activities. And of course, there will be enough homework to keep everyone busy when we are not in the classroom."

Students were then divided into small groups and given the task of developing a 20-minute presentation on an aspect of The American Legion. Suggested topics included how to revitalize a post, the functions of a post adjutant, guidelines for post operations and leadership, and the history of The American Legion. In addition to the presentation, the students in each small group were asked to write a resolution covering any topic on The American Legion and to create an overall preliminary strategic post plan. Both assignments will be presented and defended before the entire class later this week.

Moreover, Legion College students have heard presentations from Legion College chancellor and Past National Commander Butch Miller, National Adjutant Daniel Wheeler, Chief of Voluntary Services at Roudebush VA Medical Center Michael Wright and national headquarters Public Relations Director Joe March.