Congratulations, Cory Buchta!
Congratulations to Cory Buchta, recipient of this year’s Ron Alexander Teach Leadership Scholarship. Named in honor of retired KLC teacher Ron Alexander, this award provides full-tuition for our 50-hour Teach Leadership Intensive, offered in March each year. Always competitive, the scholarship is awarded to an individual who is “vividly working to improve their community but has limited funds for professional development.”
Cory Buchta works for the City of Wichita as a community services representative. Along with the other 14 participants in his cohort, he completed the first half of the program last Friday. During last week’s program, we sat down with Cory to ask a few questions. We liked his answers so much we decided to share them with you and let you get to know this man who, as one of many hats he wears as a busy civil servant, runs the City of Wichita’s Civic Engagement Academy. Given KLC’s mission to strengthening the civic culture of Kansas, we love this program! (Not sure if your city or county offers a local leadership program that you could attend? Check our list of Kansas programs here.)
KLC: What is the most impactful thing you are taking away from the week-long intensive?
Cory: “I have really appreciated the time and opportunity dedicated to practicing the KLC teaching proficiencies. While it’s helpful discussing these topics, the chance to practice and get immediate feedback from expert facilitators and other learners has been invaluable.”
KLC: What are you most looking forward to following completion of the first 25 hours?
Cory: “I am looking forward to finding opportunities to enhance the City of Wichita Civic Engagement Academy and my facilitation of the program. I’ve been discussing with others in the intensive ways to act experimentally that will help achieve program goals long-term.”
More about Cory
Cory Buchta joined the City of Wichita’s Office of Community Services in January of 2019 and serves Districts 2 and 5. He has a passion for service, having been a volunteer for Project Access, the United Way’s Read to Succeed program, and other organizations. Cory also has a passion for communication. He has previously worked as a high school speech and debate teacher, directing a program that competed on the state and national level. He also spent time as a producer and reporter for the local NBC affiliate. Cory is active in the Wichita Downtown Toastmasters club and works as a public speaking consultant with local motivational speakers.
Cory has a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from Bethel College in Newton, KS, where he was born and raised. In his free time, he likes to play and coach soccer with his wife and five kids. They also enjoy cheering for Sporting Kansas City, playing golf, and eating at the wonderful local restaurants Wichita has to offer.
Congrats, Cory, and thank you for your public service to your community. Keep us posted on your progress with the Civic Engagement Academy. #Onward!
P.S. Oh, and one more thing. If you want to support Cory and the other 14 members of his cohort, there’s something you can do for them that will build or refresh your skills too. So read on!
Join KLC’s Teach Leadership Intensive Teachers in Training
Free Video Chats – April 11-15, 2022
To cap their learning experience, each participant will present a one-hour video chat on a single leadership skill. They need an audience! Please join us the week of April 11-15 to participate in this unique teaching and learning opportunity. There are multiple chats a day on different topics Sign-up to attend a chat (or more than one!), provide quick feedback and help an aspiring teacher of the KLC framework complete their Teach Leadership Intensive program. See you there!
