PRMS Student Selected For State Leadership Conference
Student Accepted into People to People Academic Program

PRMS Student Selected For State Leadership Conference

One of Pine-Richland Middle School’s own attended the National Young Leaders State Conference in Pennsylvania Feb. 28 – March 2 and has been invited to attend the Presidential Inauguration on January 9, 2009.  

Cameron Barnes joined a very select group of some of the most highly acclaimed students in Pennsylvania to take part in an extraordinary leadership conference sponsored by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC).

The National Young Leaders State Conference (NYLSC) in Pennsylvania honors and recognizes outstanding middle school students for their scholastic achievement and leadership potential.  Enrollment requirements to attend the Conference are strict, mandating that every scholar who attends must be personally nominated to attend by a teacher or selected based upon extraordinary academic achievement. PRMS teacher Kathy Deal oversaw the eighth grader’s participation in the conference.

"The aim of NYLSC is to inspire students to recognize their own leadership shills, measure their skills against those of their peers and return home with newfound confidence in their ability to serve as future leaders," said Michael Lasday, executive director of the Congressional Youth Leadership Council.

The intense four-day curriculum focused on eight core leadership power tools:  communication, conflict resolution, decision making, goal setting, group dynamics, leadership techniques, project management and self-awareness.  With the insight and guidance of highly trained facilitators and the assistance of their peers, scholars work within each activity to hone their plan of person leadership.

CYLC is an educational organization dedicated to identifying and nurturing leadership in the nation's highest-achieving students.  Since 1985, the Council has inspired more than 200,00 young people to achieve full leadership potential.  Close to 400 members of the U.S. Congress serve on the CYLC Honorary Congressional Board of Advisors and more than 50 embassies participate in the Council's Honorary Board of Embassies. 

Student Accepted into People to People Academic Program

People to People World Leadership Forum organizers have selected a Pine-Richland Middle School student to participate in the forum.

Eighth grader Cameron Barnes, of Wexford, will join a select group of students in Washington, D.C., March 17-23, 2008 to earn high school credit while studying leadership and exploring some of the United States' most prominent monuments and institutions. 

The forum helps prepare the world's most promising young people for the opportunities and responsibilities ahead.   Barnes will join other outstanding middle school students from around the globe to learn, be challenged and earn academic credit.

From Capital Hill to the Smithsonian Institution, and from Colonial Williamsburg to the National Museum of American History, Barnes will examine the characteristics of American leadership during times of national challenge and prosperity.  Forum delegates will also participate in small-group discussions and exercises to experience first-hand how successful leaders develop strategies, make decisions, build consensus, and foster change.

Barnes will attend the Washington School of World Studies during this conference. This high school and service-learning course has been developed to build upon the group and individual school leader experience and to reinforce the People to People mission of peace through understanding.  The Washington School of Studies course encourages independent thought and problem solving.  Through course requirements, the school promotes and interest in lifelong learning and leadership, character, culture, and many other aspects of world studies.  The academic emphasis of this course is focused on the total learning experience while preparing for and participating in the People to People World Leadership Forum.

PRMS teacher Leah Reddinger is overseeing Barnes’ participation in the program.Barnes was chosen to participate based on his outstanding scholastic merit, civic involvement and leadership potential.  

The program is coordinated by People to People Student Leader Programs to fulfill the vision President Dwight D. Eisenhower had for fostering world citizenship when he founded People to People during his presidency in 1956.