Graduating from Leadership Charlottesville

Tomorrow's the big day. It's sad that we've come to the end of this journey, but exciting to be moving ahead with new friends, projects and possibilities. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in one place tomorrow. While many of us have gotten together, certainly with our project teams, it's been since November that the majority of us have had the opportunity to spend the day together.

We lost one member of our team -- Jimmy moved back to Miami toward the end of our project. I think most of the original 35 have made it to graduation and will be there for the ceremony.

Tomorrow's events include presentations of our projects to the class. It will be great to share Voices of Poverty with them in person. I'm also looking forward to hearing more about their projects, especially the First Mile project, a program developed for seventh graders in Charlottesville city schools, to get them running and setting goals. I was there the morning the First Mile project team came up with the idea. Their energy and excitement were infectious and it was fantastic to see them take off and "run" with it. Theirs is certainly a story of success.

People I know are starting to think about applying for the program -- some have already signed up -- partly from all my touting, but also because they know it's a great vehicle to learn more about Charlottesville and create connections among people in the community -- something I believe all leaders crave.