by Emma Dauster
As a high school student, one of the most important and useful skills you can possess is a strong sense of leadership. Leadership is a skill that you will use at almost every point in your life, especially in college and in the workplace. Therefore, it is essential for students to develop leadership skills while still in high school by seeking summer volunteer opportunities and leadership opportunity programs.
One leadership opportunity that is available to BHS students is the CloseUp Washington Leadership Program. It focuses on developing leadership skills in students in small group settings in the environment of Washington DC. The program also strives to increase students’ awareness of governmental issues and how they are handled by our federal government.
“CloseUp Washington Leadership Program is designed to give students an inside look to how their government works as well as provides them with essential leadership skills,” said Julia Smith, who attended the program last year. “My most valuable takeaway from participating in CloseUp was learning how to present different arguments for topics that the government is responsible for, such as the water crisis.”
To find out how you can become a part of the CloseUp Washington Leadership Program, please visit https://www.closeup.org!
Another leadership opportunity is 4-H. With more than 7 million participants, 4-H is the largest youth organization in the entire United States. The program offers many youth development programs such as public speaking.
All the programs that the Brevard 4-H branch offers are conducted in a group environment, allowing participants to collaborate with others, thus building leadership and communicative skills. Anyone who is under 19 years old is welcome to join Brevard’s 4-H program. For more information on how to join, visit https://transylvania.ces.ncsu.edu.