Nearly 100 high-school students from Southern Maryland came to St. Mary’s College of Maryland in June for the third Southern Maryland Youth Leadership Conference, an initiative to help promote leadership qualities in the area’s teens.
A featured guest speaker at the conference was Ed Gerety, who encouraged students to envision their success, write down their goals, and build relationships. Farrah Gray, who was a highly-accomplished African-American businessman by the age of 17, was also a featured speaker. He told the students to dream big, and he encouraged the students to be leaders by supporting others in their endeavors.
Pete Mahon of Charles County Public Schools conducted workshops on True Colors, a dynamic personality assessment tool for building better communications and providing insight into career choices.
Representatives from the Charles and St. Mary’s Teen Court organizations conducted mock trials to demonstrate the process used by the Teen Court system when teens are charged with misdemeanor crimes. Wardell Swann, a Hughesville resident and Paralympics gold medalist, and nine-year-old Dayton Webber of Charlotte Hall shared the stage, telling their stories and inspiring students to think outside the box to overcome obstacles.
During the four-day conference, students worked together in groups to create PowerPoint presentations, displays, and brochures. Each group focused on a fundraising project that could be instituted at their high school. Principals from the high schools were invited to attend the students’ presentations on the last day of the conference.
The Youth Leadership Conference was organized and funded by Aero Energy; All-American Harley-Davidson; American Association of University Women; Calvert County Department of Juvenile Justice Services; Calvert County Public Schools; Charles County Chamber of Commerce; Charles County Public Schools; College of Southern Maryland; Community Bank of Tri-County; Concerned Black Women of Calvert County; Educational Systems Employees Federal Credit Union; Jenkins Law Firm; Joseph R. Densford; Lord and Tucker Management Consultants; M&T Bank; Mirant Mid-Atlantic, LLC; Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative; St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce; St. Mary’s County Public Schools; St. Mary’s County Recreation, Parks and Community Services; St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department; and Teen Court of Charles and St. Mary’s Counties.