Youth Leadership Participants Celebrate Graduation
Tuesday July 10, 2012
The 2012 Youth Leadership Oak Ridge class recently celebrated their graduation from the program. Hallerin Hilton Hill was the keynote speaker for the event held in May. Youth Leadership is a program of the Oak Ridge Center for Leadership and Community Development.
The goal of Youth Leadership Oak Ridge is to:
- provide programs that acquaint participants with community needs, opportunities, current issues, resources and infrastructure;
- encourage understanding and acceptance of civic responsibilities and leadership roles;
- encourage student participants to share their Youth Program experiences with schoolmates;
- foster leadership skills and to teach participants about the community in which they live;
- encourage students to become more involved and realize the benefits of living in the City of Oak Ridge or East Tennessee region following their education;
- familiarize the participants with potential leadership roles available to them and to assist in assuming leadership roles;
- provide networking opportunities with national business and local community leaders;
- increase volunteerism and community involvement.
According to Youth Leadership volunteer Jim Dodson, "Youth Leadership is the brain child and project of the Leadership Oak Ridge Class of 2009. Our class wanted to have a lasting legacy on this community and one of the best ways to do that is to develop the next generation of leaders."
The 2012-2013 Youth Leadership program begins in August 2012 and ends in May 2013. The group meets monthly on Wednesday afternoons. A few spaces remain for rising Oak Ridge High School sophomores and juniors.
The participants receive a Youth Leadership program certificate of completion, networking opportunities with national and international business leaders in the community and will develop leadership skills and understanding of local community needs.
Applications are available at the Oak Ridge High School Administration Office, by contacting Jim Dodson at Jefferson Middle School (jdodson@ortn.edu) or on the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce website: www.oakridgechamber.org.
2012-2013 sponsors of the program are B&W Y-12, WSI Oak Ridge and Y-12 Federal Credit Union. Donations may be mailed to the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Make checks payable to Leadership Oak Ridge with "Youth Leadership" in the memo line. For information, please contact Greta Ownby at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce at 483-1321 or ownby@orcc.org.
The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce is Four-Star Accredited Chamber of Commerce and the winner of the ACCE 2010 Chamber of the Year designation.
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