Many leadership and link crew kids recently went on a field trip to Modesto. It was on May 5, 2022, at the Convention Center. Morty, our leadership teacher invited all her leadership and link crew kids in hope that this conference would teach them something or impact them in some way. Throughout the conference, they went to different presentations to learn all about various leadership skills and ways to improve the program! 

When the students first got there they got doughnuts, water and received their tickets and bands. After this, they listened to the keynote speaker, Keith Hawkins, speak about how to be inspirational rather than motivational. They also walked around and met leadership students from other high schools and then went into their training sessions that are accustomed to their specific roles in leadership. 

“In my session, I learned about time management, paperwork, communication, and body language,” said Payton Miller Kay, sophomore.

This leadership conference was especially important for our ASB Vice President Avery Redula because she was one of the speakers there who presented on the random acts of kindness and validation.

Whether kids were there to give a speech, to learn, or for fun, they were definitely impacted in some kind of way. Whether it was learning something that could help them with leadership, something impacting their future, or advice that stuck out to them, just events like this leadership conference can really stick with these students for the rest of their lives. 

“Something that really impacted me at the conference was the idea that things are permanent or temporary in your life. It’s important to not stress over things that will not matter in a couple of years when there are permanent things in your life like family and your emotions,” said Miller Kay.

Many of the students that attended the conference also said that it was very cool to see so many other students just like them. There were many leadership kids from other schools there that had the same responsibilities and pressures as them. They really related to each other and could bounce ideas off each other which was a great experience for them.

“Something that really stuck out to me was the way that all of these leadership students from different schools were able to come together and combine ideas. I thought it was a great experience how people who share the same goals for their schools have different ways of going about it,” said Claire Marin, freshman.