The Leadership Enrichment Action Program is starting its third year of helping students become their best at leadership.

The program gives students opportunities to build their skills through workshops and community service projects in two different levels of leadership training, said Laura Bestler-Wilcox, assistant director of student activities and LEAP adviser.

“Students are gaining the skills that will make them better people, which will enable them to be leaders in the community,” Bestler-Wilcox said of the more than 300 graduates of LEAP since its formation in spring 1998.

Any ISU student can register for LEAP at no cost. At the Cardinal level, students attend six sessions over the course of a semester. The academic year- long Gold level is open to students who have already completed the Cardinal level, Leadership ISU or the President’s Leadership Class.

Megan Shill, general LEAP co-chair, started out as a Gold level participant and decided to use the skills she learned to help other students realize their leadership potential.

“[The goal of LEAP is] to make students aware of their leadership potential while balancing the rest of life and having fun,” said Shill, senior in management information systems.

She said many students will complete the Cardinal level in the fall and start the Gold level in the spring.

The program presents leadership techniques and tools to students and gives them the opportunity to practice those skills while building professional development, Shill said.

“LEAP is a great way to get involved on campus,” she said. “It’s not a lot of time, just Tuesdays for six weeks, and all of the skills you learn you can use for the rest of your life.”

Iowa State is home to several opportunities for leadership development, such as Leadership ISU, the President’s Leadership Class and the Residence Life Leadership Institute, but what makes LEAP unique is that it is solely student-run.

Brian Wessels, freshman in construction engineering, is serving as the Cardinal leader on the LEAP executive team. He said he was recruited by a friend and brings new ideas to the table, because he was never a participant in the program himself.

“Because we’re the only completely student-run leadership-building opportunity, it’s all about the students,” Wessels said. “We try to do things that we know students are going to get a lot out of and also have fun at the same time.”

Shill said that the atmosphere of LEAP is a major benefit of the student-run group.

“We’re relaxed,” she said. “We like to have fun.”

The leadership workshops are mixed with social and community service activities and the year is capped off with a recognition program – all planned by the students with “a lot of help from our adviser,” Shill said.

“We’re constantly planning,” she said.

“The program is still fairly new, so we can see it going bigger and better places in the future.”

LEAP is sponsored by the Student Union Board and the Student Activities Center.

Registration forms, due Sept. 21, are available at the Student Activities Center or on the LEAP Web Site at www.stuorg.iastate.edu/lea. LEAP representatives will be at ClubFest Sept. 12. Sessions begin Sept. 25.