On Friday, March 15, 2024, the S.H.S. freshmen received the opportunity to attend the Student Leadership Summit that took place at the McCormick Event Center in Rock Falls. The summit was available for local freshmen and the speaker was Dr. Alonzo Kelly.
Kelly described the event by stating that “this summit isn’t just about passively absorbing information — it’s about actively engaging and transforming the way we perceive and articulate thoughts.” Kelly believes this will change the way people think and improve their thought process.
S.H.S. freshmen were nominated by their teachers to attend this conference; in total, 23 freshmen attended. The freshmen that attended this summit were Emmanuel Arreola, Olivia Castillo, Sarah Doughty, Evalyn Gaffey, Sydney Giffin, Joslyn Green, Nia Harris, Isaiah Herren, Gavino Munos Ripley, Charles Nawrocki, Madelyn Oyen, Sophie Potthoff, Jacob Prevo, Megan Stutzke, Sophia Torres, Emma Van Horn, Jonas White, Owen Ports, Jaz’Mya, Denver Sandrock, Star Pease, Fareeda Alkhalaf, and Claire Robers.
At the conference, freshman counselor Cami Hartman stated “[Kelly had the] kids work in groups on icebreakers/activities. In one activity they had to get to know someone and see if they could agree on a place to travel together. This worked on teamwork and compromise. The leader also tested our ability to say a tongue twister and he talked about how everyone could do it, but we all had to go at our own pace.”
As one of the attendees, Potthoff said her favorite thing was “getting to do fun activities with my friends while still learning life lessons.” She also believes that all of the things she learned will be “very applicable to real life.” If the leadership summit was available to the incoming freshman class she “would recommend the leadership summit to any incoming freshmen because it was a fun, positive learning experience for [her] and [her] friends.”
Overall, students and faculty alike enjoyed the experience that this conference was and hope to incorporate what they learned into their lives.
