Building Leaders: Jefferson celebrates fourth 'Leadership Shuffle' cohort

Published on Nov 14, 2025

Jefferson recently celebrated the fall 2025 cohort of the Leadership Shuffle workshop. Twelve students completed the three-session workshop, which explored the five languages of communication based on the book The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace by Gary Chapman and Paul White.

Throughout the workshop, students learned how to apply these five forms of communication in the classroom, workplace, and personal life to support their growth as emerging leaders.

The first session introduced the five love languages, also known as appreciation in the workplace, including words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. 

The second session examined how people speak, listen, and connect through open-ended dialogue, nonverbal awareness, direct expression, balanced conversations, and intentional communication. 

In the final session, students explored the power of validation and appreciation by studying techniques such as recognizing effort and contributions, affirming emotions and experiences, creating a culture of encouragement, balancing praise with genuine acknowledgement, and personalizing appreciation.

Students were recognized for successfully completing the program during an award ceremony on Nov. 7.

The Leadership Shuffle Workshop is organized by Jefferson's Student Success and Engagement and led by Student Engagement Coordinator Hope Johnson.

See more photos on Flickr.