This year, outstanding students from across the nation will take part in a unique leadership development program being held in 30 cities across the country.

Three of these outstanding students are from Armuchee Middle School. Mollie Hedgis, Clair Hill and Tyler Gallagher spent four days in the National Young Leaders State Conference in Atlanta.

Themed Courageous Leadership, the National Young Leaders State Conference helps young scholars take an introspective and highly-personalized assessment of their leadership skills and abilities.

Throughout the four-day program, students will build a working “toolkit” of strategies to help them successfully dream, create and implement plans that will change how they view their role as leaders in their communities.

“The steps each person takes in discovering his or her own leadership strengths can be a very personal process,” said Marguerite Regan, Ph.D., Dean of Academic Affairs for the Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC), the organization that sponsors NYLSC.

“The National Young Leaders State Conference will help students get at the heart of their innate talents and skills and will also help them to identify how best they can serve within their communities.”

The NYLSC curriculum focuses on an introspective and highly-personalized assessment of each student’s leadership skills and abilities.

Attendees will be challenged to step forward in a manner that is decisive and confident, to grasp the concepts of leadership that will be taught and to act upon their dreams of making a difference in the world while maintaining the courage of their convictions.

The Congressional Youth Leadership Council is a nonpartisan educational organization. Founded in 1985, CYLC is committed to fostering and inspiring young people to achieve their full leadership potential.