Cape Central embraces leadership with new Chick-fil-A partnership

Cape Girardeau Central High School partnered with Chick-fil-A for the 2024-25 school year to promote servant leadership through the Chick-fil-A Leader Academy.

Cape Central’s group, composed of 26 students and sponsored by Central’s physical education teacher Ashley Radake, came to fruition following the program’s success at Notre Dame Regional High School.

“Kate House from Chick-fil-A actually reached out to Mr. (Marty) Vines, our assistant principal,” Radake said. “They had started this last year with Notre Dame, and it went really well. They decided they wanted to add us into the mix also, so they reached out and we jumped on board because we thought it was a great idea.”

To choose the inaugural members of the academy, Radake emailed the staff at Cape Central asking for the names of students who they felt had good leadership qualities. Some of the students were referred multiple times, which made those selections easy for Radake, but she required some assistance to narrow her choices down to between the 25 to 30 members she wanted.

The group meets twice a month to discuss future projects and watch educational videos called Leader Labs, which, according to the Chick-fil-A Leader Academy website, “give students the practical tools needed to make a positive impact in their local communities.”

The academy students participated in Chick-fil-A’s 1 Million Book Giveaway, in which the company sent 144 packs of five books for club members to distribute to elementary students in the district.

“As a group, we kind of made up an assembly line and took one of each of those books and sent them in a bag,” Radake said. “They wrote sweet little notes to the kids and packaged those up, and that’s what we delivered.”

Cape Central senior and academy member Nate Roth, one of the students delivering, stopped by Blanchard Elementary on Tuesday, Oct. 29, with a large box full of books. After handing out books to the group, Roth sat down to read and interact with the children.

“It’s such a heartwarming experience coming in and seeing the kids,” Roth said. “They’re so excited to see you, because they think anybody who’s in high school is, like, the coolest person ever, so they’re always asking a bunch of questions. Getting in there, just being able to read with them and seeing their faces light up when they hear a random fact about Mars, it really makes my day.”

In addition to the 1 Million Book Giveaway, academy members are planning a larger service project for “Do Good” December. According to Radake, ideas range from a free community dinner to adding a year-round donation box in the school’s atrium, to creating a hotline or email address for members to provide a “listening ear” for someone who may need to get things off their chest.

Roth said his main goal with the group is to “help the community as a whole.”

“I’m a big guy on serving, and just going out there and creating a sense of community, either within our school or just out in our town,” Roth said. “I just love to see everybody come together and just be happy, like one big family.”

Radake echoed Roth’s sentiment, saying her goal is for the students to build a “strong community service club.”

“I want them to be encouraged to try to bring some of their ideas to life, especially with our ‘Do Good’ December service project, and then with their challenge to do another smaller project,” Radake said. “I want them to participate in these service projects and try to create a legacy of service for future Academy members.”