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Article Titled: "AHS Students Attend Leadership Conference"

Journalist/Reporter: Aaron Wilson,
High School Student Reporter at Anamosa High School in Iowa
Published on December 1, 2011

AHS Students Attend Leadership Conference

(Published in the Anamosa High School Paper - December 1, 2011)

On October 19th, students from French, Marketing, and National Honor Society went to a Student Diversity Leadership Conference at Mount Mercy University to learn about the importance of diversity in society. For those of you who don’t know, Diversity is a commitment to recognizing and appreciating the variety of characteristics that make individuals unique in an atmosphere that promotes and celebrates individual and collective achievement. The theme given for the day was “True GREATNESS is – as True GREATNESS does!”

Our Keynote speaker, Ty Howard, spoke to us about the 8 essentials of True greatness. Ty Howard is recognized around the world as a highly sought after dynamic motivational speaker and empowerment consultant for teens, students, and athletes. The first essential of true greatness is “Gifted”. Mr. Howard told us that everyone has at least one special gift that they were born with, and “It’s your responsibility to discover, develop, nurture and bring your gift to the world.” Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, wanted people to “Think Different” and to “Put a dent in the Universe”. By developing and sharing our gifts we can be like Steve Jobs, we can make a great impact in the universe.

The second essential to true greatness is Respectful. “Respect Starts with you and impacts others.” In 1974, a teacher at Garfield High School (East Los Angeles, California), showed the world what showing respect can do for others. Jaime Escalante was that teacher, and he taught AP Calculus. He convinced a group of students that were performing poorly in school, to take his class. Jaime Escalante showed them respect, and boosted up their self-esteem. 2 out of 5 students passed the calculus test the first year, and 14 out of 15 students passed the following year. Jaime Escalante came into the national spotlight when he got 18 students to pass the Advanced Placement Calculus test.

The next essential to true greatness is Responsible. “I am the Architect of My Future.” Ty Howard told us that if we want to stand out, don’t be reckless, be outstanding. He counseled us to be more than just average; to set our bar to a higher level. We are the creators of our own future.

Another essential to true greatness is Resourceful. “I will win in life with people, organizations, and information.” Being resourceful is one of the biggest essentials to being great. You need to be able to face every challenge that comes your way, and a lot of times you are going to need help. It will be very beneficial to you, if there was somebody you could call when you’re in a jam, or just straight out need help. To reach true greatness you need to be resourceful in all that you do.

The fifth essential to true greatness is Resilient. “Your greatest comebacks will always come from your bounce back ability.” You need to be able to bounce back when something tragic or stressful happens. You need to be mentally tough, and keep a straight head, because people will be looking up to you. If you let stress overcome you, then you will make no progress in life.

The next essential to true greatness is Educated.”Education is your ultimate key to new levels of success.” It will always take more learning and continuous education to get to the next level. Ty Howard told us that “The largest room in the world is the room for improvement.”

Action Driven is another essential to true greatness. “It will take continuous steps of action on your part to create and live the life you truly want to live.” Find what you like to do, and pursue it. Join an organization or club; there are opportunities all around you. Move forward with a positive, persistent life plan and focused energy. “Those who are blessed with the most talent don’t necessarily outperform everyone else. It’s the people with follow-through who excel.” – Mary Kay Ash. Small successes add up to greatness.

The final essential to true greatness is Triumph. “When you’re tirelessly determined, committed, focused and mentally tough – you will triumph and reach True Greatness.” Triumph is the final step in gaining true greatness, once you have everything else, triumph comes easy. Your future depends on you, so start today, and follow these 8 essentials, because “You were born to be G.R.R.R.R.E.A.T.!!!” – Ty Howard.

After hearing from the keynote speaker, there was a break for snacks. Then everyone was split into two groups; one group went to the Basile Hall, and the other went to the Donnelly Center for workshops. I was in group 1 and we were sent to the Basile Hall first. Ty Howard was the speaker at this workshop, and he spoke to us about “Making the Embracing and Celebration of Diversity, Cool.” He started out by asking us what we thought diversity was. Many people had their own definition, but over all, they were similar. They all were about there being differences in every one, and that we need to accept these differences, and never put someone down because of it. He then went on to explain why we need diversity. One example he gave us was a tapestry, it is made of a whole lot of small strings. Close up it looks like none of the strings have much of a purpose, but if you look at the whole thing; you will see that it helps in creating a pattern, or picture. Mr. Howard explained to us that we all need to look at the bigger picture, because we are all important. He ended by reciting us a poem he wrote titled “It’s Okay to Be Different, Unique, YOU!” This poem can be found on Youtube.com, if any of you are interested in hearing it for yourself.

The second workshop over at the Donnelly Center was about “What Inspires YOU – a fight against apathy.” The speaker at this workshop was Azure Antoinette. Antoinette is a poet/spoken word artist, freelance photographer, and youth literacy advocate. In this workshop we discussed what apathy was, and what we can do to fight against it. Apathy is the lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting. We discussed how apathy seems to be getting worse in each generation of kids. We all shared stories of personal experiences we have had or have seen, and then talked about how it should have been taken care of.

On the bus ride home, Anamosa High School attendees did some reflection about what personal changes they would try to make as a result of their experience at the conference. Following is a small sampling of those reflections:

“Encourage others to be themselves.”

“Accept people for their personality, not looks.”

“Don’t judge people, get to know them.”

“The importance of acknowledging my own uniqueness.”

“I want to be able to learn from other’s differences.”

“I will step up when seeing someone being bullied.”

“I will voice my message of acceptance and love.”

“What the media depicts is not always true.”

“I will attempt to be more assertive in speaking up when people use offensive slurs”

“Push myself in class to keep my grades up because I owe it to myself.”

Anamosa students attending the conference were: Alex Alderdyce, Jennifer Beal, Shanna Forbes, Bri Cook, Aaron Wilson, Ashley Anderson, Jake Behnke, Zach Hansen, Julius Henning, Megan Nissen, Tyler Ronek, Katie Scwaegler, Geret Smith, Evan Wilson, Sydney Wolfe, Robbie Takes, Sam Daily, Shannon Nutt, Blake Bowers, Randy Robertson, in addition to Mrs. Nelson and Mr. Husmann. Everyone generally agreed that the conference was a positive experience that caused them to rethink how others are viewed and how we act as individuals toward people who appear “different” and how our actions have the potential to do harm or good.

http://www.anamosa.k12.ia.us

Anamosa Community School District * 200 South Garnavillo St. * Anamosa, IA 52205

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For more information about Ty Howard or InspiraGen Institute, call (443) 982-7582.

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