The top two leaders of Oxford High School’s sophomore class will attend a May leadership seminar in East Lansing.
Thomas Bearse and Elizabeth Downs will both attend the Michigan Youth Leadership Conference, a three-day event to be held May 15-17, 2009 at Michigan State University.
In October, OHS teachers nominated 28 top sophomore leaders with each teacher then raking their first and second choices.
The students then wrote a paragraph on what leadership means to them.
The entries were then anonymously evaluated by eight teachers with the winners being selected by combining their teacher nomination scores with their essay evaluation scores.
Bearse finished first while Downs finished second. Samantha Murray is a first alternate.
The MYLead Conference will include motivational speakers, panel discussions, debates, team-building exercises and personal goal-setting.
It’s designed to equip students to become leaders through leadership skill enhancement, critical thinking development, creative problem solving and positive peer interaction.
‘Being a leader means excelling not only in school and sports, but as a human being,? Bearse wrote in his essay. ?…A great leader lives every moment of his life to better the lives of those around him and to better the world one person at a time.?
In her essay, Downs wrote: ‘To lead you cannot follow the crowd, but instead follow your own path that you feel will benefit you and those around you, even if that path is not the most popular.?
Murray added: ‘My definition of leadership is the ability to guide, steer, or influence people in a positive direction. Leadership is not only having those qualities, but also being able to do the right thing no matter what everyone else is doing.?