MIDLAND, Texas (KOSA) -The General Tommy Franks leadership institute program is only open to top-performing rising high school seniors around Midland County.
“I was in the program with a lot of my former classmates from elementary school and it was really cool that I get to talk to them again,” said Shelby Stephens. “We were put on a team and we had to do like complete challenges.”
Challenges that center around General Franks’ Four Stars of Leadership: character, common vision, communication, and caring.
Shelby Stephens, who was awarded a $3,000 Four Star Leadership scholarship from the M.Y.L. Challenge in 2021 says the two-day program focuses on developing student leaders who can identify and solve problems.
“We also learned how to take a lot of really good notes based on What somebody was saying. I’m usually used to in the classroom copying down what they have on the board and it kind of helped me develop better note-taking skills.
Less than 30 students are chosen each year to hear speeches from local influential leaders and across the state.
One of those speeches was made by MISD’s very own superintendent.
“I met the superintendent, and I haven’t met her yet because she was new and so it was kind of a rewarding experience to get to know her background and why she runs the school district the way she does,” said Stephens.
After hearing speeches, students are then put to the test, assigned to create their own persuasive speeches, and present them to judges to be scored.
Stephen says the experience overall was rewarding and encourages all juniors to apply.
She plans to use the scholarship for college tuition fees.
“I’m planning to go to A&M to study biology in August 2022,” said Stephens.
The program is free. The last day to submit applications or nominations is April 4th.
The Midland Young Leaders Challenge 2022 is currently scheduled for June 15-16, 2022.
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