Education 4.12 - Flipbook - Page 18
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| Sunday, April 12, 2026
McDonogh School in Owings Mills offer an array of leadership opportunities for its students.
Developing Leadership Skills
Helps Students Stand Out
Colleges are increasingly looking
for student leaders
By Linda L. Esterson, Contributing Writer
T
he college admission process can
be tedious, with an application
that often requires short answer
responses, a main essay, letters
of recommendation and supplemental
materials. Competing against thousands
of other students across the country –
and potentially the world – can prove
challenging. So how do students make
themselves stand out in the process?
Colleges and other post-secondary
options like the military, trade schools
and even employers are looking for good
qualities in an individual, and many of
these qualities are representative of
leaders, say Nicola Fagan, supervisor
of student services – school counseling for Carroll County Public Schools.
Specifically, Fagan shares, they target
traits like communication, responsibility,
maturity, empathy and taking initiative.
“Is there follow-through, is this somebody who is organized, who has determination?” she asks. “There are a variety
of key qualities that colleges… [are] really
looking for. It’s great to have that in high
school, because then you’re really showing your next step – college – that you are
ready to take on this next journey. You’re
ready to do work independently. You’re
ready to live independently, be with your
peers and work in teams, and ideally have
the maturity and the skills needed to be
successful.”
To develop these skills, high school
students should take on leadership roles,
whether through school activities like the
National Honor Society or sports teams,
in community service, through employment, starting a business in the neighborhood, or even helping out at home,
Fagan adds.
Admissions teams strongly consider
the activities and skills students present
through essays, letters and other materials.
“They’re still looking at you holistically. They still want to see a well-rounded
individual in front of them, but they also
want to see someone who is invested
in something that means something to
them, because that helps them understand who this person is,” she adds.
“If they see somebody who’s jumping
around with [activities] here and there,
then that’s showing them they’re exploring and they’re trying to figure things out,
but that may not have allowed them to
develop some strong leadership skills in
those settings.”
The application also demonstrates the
students’ passions.
“It tells a story about how you are as
an individual and that weighs a lot for
these admissions committees,” Fagan
explains. “Leadership is just a big piece
of it because it tells them how this person can assume leadership responsibility
when they come to our campus, when
they come into our classrooms, when
they’re in their dorms, when they’re working in clubs or on a team, and that really
transfers in all areas of their life.”
High schools typically offer a variety of
opportunities for students to not only participate in activities and programs but also
ascend to leadership positions. In Carroll
County, internship opportunities, Career
and Tech Center programs, leadership
education and training programs, Junior
ROTC and student government are just
some of the areas available to students.
McDonogh School in Owings Mills
also provides a wide range of programs
that give students the ability to learn
about leadership and engage in unique
leadership training opportunities, says
Alice Margraff, director of college counseling.
Student athletes apply to be part of a
leadership program through the Athletic
Leadership Academy that offers curriculum centered around commitment,
confidence, composure and character.
Through monthly meetings that provide
workshops, lectures from guest speakers and academic assignments, students
learn skills to become effective communicators and leaders within the framework
of athletics, Margraff notes. The goal is to
foster a culture where students can lead
but also be supportive, trustworthy, composed, confident and a good listener and
supporter of teammates, she says.
Another McDonogh leadership program is called Greatest Good McDonogh,
which involves an elected student council
focused on service. The group organizes
and leads service activities in the school
community or the community at large.
In addition, a dozen seniors each
year are part of the Rollins-Luetkemeyer
Leadership Program, considered one of
the school’s highest leadership honors.
Following a formal application process,
students are selected by their peers and
the faculty to serve in a role similar to a
resident assistant in a college dorm. They
receive a stipend to live in the dormitory for their senior year, participate in a
year-long leadership training program and
support students in the dorms. They also
Developing Leadership Skills,
continued on page 21
