November 19, 2024
(BASTROP, TX) - When you walk the halls of Bastrop ISD’s Colorado River Collegiate Academy, you’ll find students with some of the highest accomplishments and accolades throughout the Country. Among them is senior Hailey Leichtnam. 
Hailey is on track to complete her Associate Degree in Social Work at Austin Community College this spring. She is a past student council class president, currently serves as the vice president of the National Honor Society chapter at CRCA, and is the President of Bastrop’s Family Crisis Center Youth Advisory Board.
And, if that wasn’t enough to keep her busy, her most recent accomplishment is being chosen by the Texas School Safety Center to be one of nine Texas School Safety Teen Ambassadors.
“Hundreds of districts across the state submitted thousands of applications,” said Ted Coleman, BISD Safety and Security Coordinator. Coleman presented this opportunity to all the high schools and had numerous interested students. “Although I submitted all 30 applicants, I had to make a recommendation and choose one student from our district. Hailey had all of the attributes needed to excel in this position.”
The purpose of the Texas School Safety Teen Ambassador program, as stated on the Texas State website, is to give young people the ability to contribute to and be part of the solution when creating safe schools. This program is focused on engaging middle and high school students in the areas of school safety, increasing awareness about the dangers of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drugs, and building positive social norms amongst their peers. Ambassadors are dedicated to educating their peers by increasing awareness through prevention projects, as well as collaborating with TxSSC staff to develop future resources and materials centered around substance use prevention, teen mental health, and violence prevention.
When asked why she wanted to apply for this program, Hailey shared a personal reason for it meaning so much to her.
“They said the meeting had free breakfast,” Hailey laughed, but quickly got serious and added, “Texas State is where I want to go. Mr. Coleman shared what he does and the background he has to be in his current position. The background where I come from deals with a lot of mental health and drug abuse. I have no relationship with my mom and I have lost an aunt from drug abuse. I have seen first hand the difficulties of how peer pressure can push people to do drugs and them not be able to pull themselves out of it. I want to help people get through that.”
Part of the program involves each of the nine ambassadors completing an individual project, which will be announced at their November monthly meeting. While Hailey is still undecided, she is leaning towards something with physical education.
“Mental health is already really focused on at CRCA,” she said. “We have the Mental Health Advocacy Club that a student started here. But after our freshman year, there really isn’t much addressed in physical education unless students work out on their own. I’m thinking about something in that area.”
Bastrop ISD and Colorado River Collegiate Academy are proud to be represented by this outstanding student.
“Intelligent and hardworking, Hailey is a beacon of caring at the Colorado River Collegiate Academy,” shared Martin Conrardy, CRCA Principal. “We are proud of this exceptional young woman and her appointment to the School Safety Teen Ambassador Program.”
“Hailey is the epitome of leadership. She takes a challenge and finds a way to develop a solution. She is not afraid of tackling any task, she is a selfless leader,” added Coleman.
