DES MOINES — More than 230 high school seniors from 24 area high schools were selected by their schools to attend the National Council on Youth Leadership’s 25th Annual Youth Salute on Sept. 10-11 at Drake University.
Lexis Ewing and Mary Schabilion, both students at Baxter Community High School were among those selected.
Over two days, participants heard from national and local speakers on student leadership in high school and beyond. Jennie Baranczyk, head coach of the 2016-17 Missouri Valley Conference champion Drake Women’s Basketball team, delivered a keynote address titled “Leading With Integrity.”
NCYL is dedicated to recognizing, encouraging and developing the leadership skills of youth. The mission of NCYL is to create public awareness of the importance and power of youth leadership, provide information to help build advanced leadership skills, and encourage community involvement in recognition and support our youth. The Greater Des Moines chapter is facilitated by the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University, which offers a variety of public awareness activities and programming, including CHARACTER COUNTS!, the most widely used character education program in the nation.
Four participants were selected as Youth Leaders of the Year and will attend the national NCYL conference, Town Meeting on Tomorrow, in St. Louis in October. Those students were Caroline Halliwell of West Des Moines, a senior at Dowling Catholic High School; Adam Koch of Grimes, a senior at Dallas Center-Grimes High School; Sreelekha Kundu of Des Moines, a senior at Theodore Roosevelt High School; and Anvay Pradhan of West Des Moines, a senior at West Des Moines Valley High School.
A full list of attendees, categorized by high school, is online at www.drake.edu/raycenter/recognition/ncyl/.