On April 23rd, 88 students involved in Upward Bound and other enrichment programs from New England states attended the 2008 Student Leadership Conference. The theme of this year’s program, “Turning Your Passion into Action”, featured sessions and workshops designed both to enhance students’ leadership skills and empower them to tackle issues of concern at school, in their communities or in society at large.
Lindsay Hyde, Executive Director and Founder of Strong Women, Strong Girls (SWSG) presented the keynote address. As a freshman at Harvard College, she founded SWSG to help at-risk girls in grades 3-5 build self-esteem. She first described how, based on a dearth of programming for this audience, she chose to focus on this age group. She then detailed the circuitous path of pitfalls and successes during the program’s inaugural year, and offered students leadership tips for approaching new projects based on her experience. Ms. Hyde closed by challenging students to put their passion into action, and encouraged them to persevere in pursuit of their dreams.
Troy Smith, Director and Founder of Positive Vision, then guided students through the skills needed to create an effective persuasive speech, and facilitated a workshop in which students practiced their extemporaneous speaking skills. To the applause of their colleagues, several students presented to the group on topics of their choosing such as the importance of having self-confidence.
An exploration of the museum galleries followed the morning sessions. In the afternoon, participants heard from a teen panel entitled, Students Who Took a Stand. The panelists, who worked in conjunction with the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation, described how they confronted the issue of violence on city bus #23 operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). They shared their approach to the problem which included a ridership survey documenting passengers’ safety concerns and a follow up meeting with the MBTA where they presented their findings. Although their activism is ongoing, they reported that their work to date has led to an article in The Boston Globe, greater police presence on the bus route, and a more thorough understanding of the problem.
In the final workshop, Students Voice Their Concerns, participants worked in small groups on student-generated issues, and strove to create an action plan for resolving the problem.
Students expressed very positive feedback about the Conference. One student commented that, “[One session] inspired me to figure out my passion and take action…Just because I’m a girl it doesn’t mean that I can’t do it, whatever it may be.” Another student noted that, “There were a lot of new and different topics and ideas that everyone had. It was really cool to have good discussions.”