The Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce announced this week the students selected to participate in Youth Leadership Lawrence for 2016-2017, executive director Jason Houston said.
The Chamber received almost 50 applications from all four county high schools to fill 26 spots in the class. The class was balanced to proportionally represent all the schools in the county. A group of judges reviewed the applications and made the final selections.
"We were very pleased with the number of applications we received and the high level of interest in this year's class," Houston said. "I'd like to thank everyone who helped in the selection process, all the applicants, our sponsors for this year, our day chairs and our program coordinator, Brenda Suski. It takes all of us working together to make this a successful program year after year. I feel great about this group of selected students, and we are all looking forward to a fun year for Youth Leadership Lawrence."
The application criteria included work and volunteer experience, leadership roles in school, honors and awards, references and an essay on how to improve our community. The program is for students entering the 10th or 11th grade, and sophomores who were not selected for this class are encouraged to apply again in the spring of 2017 for the next class.
Members of this year's class are as follows:
From R.A. Hubbard: Russell Orr, LaShiva Hampton and Bella Keene.
From Hatton: Anna West, Eddie Smith, Andres Perales and Bryce Fretwell.
From East Lawrence: Bryant Gillespie, Dylan Wrenn, Megan Vess, Harlie Reed, Gracie Morrow and Grace Harrison.
From LCHS: Maggie Green, Braden Clement, Harrison Carpenter, Tanner Hood, Alley Cross, Molly Cottingham, Trey Freeman, Abigail Bogan, Genny Adair, Laekyn Bennett, Brady Cross, Maggie Graham and Macy Montgomery.
A new feature of this year's program will be sponsorship for all the day trips, Houston said.
"Given the financial challenges of sustaining this vital program for our county's young people, we asked local businesses, organizations and elected officials to help us sponsor the various day trips and events. We were grateful to have such positive response, and we want to especially thank our sponsors."
Orientation for this year, set for Sunday, Sept. 11, is sponsored by Thompson and Associates. Leadership Day, on Sept. 29, is sponsored by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Agriculture Day, on Oct. 19, is sponsored by the Lawrence County Cattlemen. Criminal Justice Day, on Nov. 15, is sponsored by Circuit Judge Mark Craig, District Judge Angela Terry, and District Attorney Errek Jett. Health and Education Day, set for Dec. 7, is sponsored by Lawrence Medical Center. Banking and Retail Day, on Jan. 31, 2017, is sponsored by CB&S Bank. Business and Economic Day, on Feb. 23, 2017, is sponsored by Joe Wheeler EMC and Lockheed-Martin in Courtland. Legislative Day, on March 22, 2017, is made possible by the Lawrence County state legislative delegation, and Tourism Day, on April 27, 2017, is sponsored by Peck-Glasgow Insurance.
Graduation exercises for the 2016-2017 class will be held on May 9, 2017, at 6 p.m. at Moulton Church of Christ. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill will again serve as the keynote speaker. CB&S Bank will be the title sponsor for graduation exercises.
Youth Leadership Lawrence is a program directed and sponsored by the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce. It is designed to teach local students about their home county with the goal of motivating them to grow into local leadership roles after their education is complete.
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