.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Tim Rittgers thought he would become a Spanish teacher, but now he’s working with students in a very different way as program director for the Youth Leadership Initiative Program. “I did student teaching, but I decided the traditional classroom was not for me,” Rittgers said. “I was not thrilled with the four walls of a classroom. Here, we use the community as a classroom; we take the students out and show them exciting things happening in the community. It’s a more creative, experiential process.”

The Leadership Initiative is part of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute, and Rittgers was the original director of the program. Now he’s also a full-time staff member at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Iowa, thanks to the efforts of Sam Carrell, executive director of that organization. Rittgers handles technology issues for the clubs.

Rittgers grew up on a farm near Dike and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Northern Iowa in December 2003. He started at the Leadership Institute the following summer.

Carrell notes that more than 130 teenage “diamonds in the rough” have gone through the yearlong program under Rittgers’ direction. “‘Life changing’ has been the general sentiment from both participants and parents,” Carrell wrote.

Rittgers also is an active member of the Point of Grace Church in Waukee, where he has been named as an upcoming leader, based on his mentorship and leadership. He also serves on the city of Des Moines’ Youth Advisory Board.

And as a devoted Republican, Rittgers has been selected as a delegate to county, district and state party conventions. Asked whether a run for political office might lie in his future, Rittgers said, “You wonder if you would want to put yourself through that, but if the opportunity was right, and I felt I could do some good, I definitely would consider it.”

On his own time, “I’m a voracious reader,” Rittgers said. Ranging from fiction to biographies, “I consume two or three books a month pretty easily.”

Rittgers and his wife, Emma, have a son, Judah, who was born last May.