Black clothed tables sprinkled with photos of students and speeches filled with sentiments. These marked the end of another group of students’ time in the Coppell ISD iLead program.
The annual iLead graduation ceremony was held in the Coppell High School Commons on Thursday to celebrate the program’s work over the year.
The student iLead program is a Coppell ISD program to help students develop leadership skills and networking skills through service in the local community.
The ceremony opened with remarks by CISD chief communications director Angela Brown, iLead student facilitator and trustee Leigh Walker and Superintendent Dr. Leanne Shivers.
“iLead graduation is not about the end of a program,” Brown said. “It is really about launching you into leadership. This is our way of saying ‘You have done a great job and now we want you to go out into the world and lead with respect and dignity.”
To add on to the standing legacy of the program, members of the 2024-25 iLead cohort alumni were invited to the stage to give a short speech.
“iLead will be a part of your life for years to come,” CHS senior iLead alumna Sarah Spychalski said. “Your senior year you will find yourself writing about it in college essays and utilizing your interviewing skills for different interviews and you will realize the guidance of the connections that you made here.”
Junior iLead member Sahana Kumar spoke about her experiences in the program.
“One thing I really value about iLead is the real world experience that we have been able to get throughout the course of the program,” Kumar said. “Not only has that been incredible for us to be able to practice within such an encouraging environment, but I have been able to learn a lot. I have been able to pick up things from each of their speeches and incorporate them into my home.”
After the alumni and member speeches, Mayor Pro Tem Don Carroll was awarded the Difference Maker Award for his investment into the program through both time and sponsorships. With the conclusion of his speech, former CISD Superintendent Dr. Brad Hunt was given the iLead Legacy Award.
“You are amazing young people,” Dr. Hunt said. “You are the future. They inspire me. They inspire me with their thoughtfulness, their graciousness, their eagerness, their willingness to take on whatever challenge in their way. As you guys step up to your senior year, I encourage you to continue with authenticity, keep kindness as a bogus, stay grounded on who you are and never underestimate the impact that you can have.”
As a keepsake for their involvement in the program, students were gifted bags with a student designed iLead shirt, two gift cards to J. Macklins Grill and San Daniele Italian Eatery and Bar, two recognitions from the City of Coppell and State Representative Cassandra Hernandez Garcia, a handmade newspaper highlighting the quotes of the cohort and a copy of the book, Experience Inc by Jill Popelka.
As is the norm with graduations, the students lined up to receive their certificates from Brown. With each student came a 30-second message detailing memorable experiences and lessons learned.
“It is just a great opportunity for all of us juniors to have fun and learn a lot from this engaging network that you do not even talk to,” CHS junior iLead member Tony Zhang said. “It is an accomplishment that will definitely follow me throughout my life. It is so fun to say that I have been with a hoard of people that are so engaging, so kind and such great leaders in school.”
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