Wiese, an Indianapolis resident, has traveled to a plethora of schools all around Indiana and its neighboring states, spreading the importance of leadership to the students. Through his Keynote presentations and workshops, students leave the program more confident in themselves saying, “I feel great!” as Wiese’s slogan goes. He teaches the five keys to leadership, including taking action and teamwork.

His first activity of the afternoon was a warmup/ice breaker. The objective was for all students at each table (students were split into eight tables with about nine students each) to run a lap around their table and then proceed to high five twenty students. The last table to have everyone sitting down after completing the task would have to perform an embarrassing routine in front of the rest of the group. Of course Wiese isn’t that mean, so he just laughed with the last table that finished the activity.

Next, the students did another group icebreaker. This time, if when Wiese said something that applied to the student, they would stand up and say, “that’s me!” After that short activity, he had students gather in little circles and play a name game.

Activities that followed included the caterpillar walk game, the number game, a tower building game, and a parody of ships and sailors.

For the walk activity, students were told to blow up balloons and stand in a line with the balloon on their stomach and walk in a line without loosing the balloons or team members. Competition was intense, but only one table could win.

Students for the next activity were given a card with a number one to twelve on it. On the back were 20 mini activities where students had to complete in order to qualify for the sacred keychain Wiese hands out to his winners. Seniors Kylee Taylor and Haylie Keene, and sophomore Abby Morrison finished in the top three for that activity.

Next, students competed against other tables to create the tallest and most sturdy building, after undergoing an earthquake created by Wiese. The tallest measured 56 inches.

Lastly, students played a favorite game: a parody of ships and sailors, except there wasn’t a theme. Wiese would call out a number, say, four, and students would gather into groups of four. Those who didn’t make it into a group were eliminated from the game. He would add crazy rules, like, students couldn’t be with the same people two rounds in a row.

In their own way, these activities taught students how to be better leaders, with wins and occasional losses. Students that attended the program raved about the good time they had. GHS students always look forward to Wiese coming and speaking every year. Thanks to NHS sponsoring the event, Wiese will be at GHS for many years to come.