On January 21, Homewood Middle School attended First Priority’s sixth annual Leader’s Summit, along with 60 other area middle, intermediate and high schools. Leader’s Summit is an in-depth leadership training event for students, teacher sponsors and campus coaches involved in First Priority local campus ministries. More than 700 students and teachers across the area attended this year’s event. Local school boards of education endorsed the program, allowing a group of students to attend and count the event as a field trip. Some boards even provided a substitute teacher so that the teacher sponsor could attend.
Homewood Middle School students and Teacher Sponsor Leslie Tanner have attended First Priority’s Leader’s Summit since it first started six years ago. Students said they like to attend the Leader’s Summit because it’s a good way to grow closer to Christ.
“The Leader’s Summit helps me get closer to Christ and teaches me how to be a better leader in my school to positively impact other students,” said Abby Poole.
Homewood Middle School students also shared with First Priority that this year’s Summit taught them to be more confident when sharing the love and message of Christ with students on their campus.
“The Leader’s Summit taught me good skills and to be more confident when I talk to others about Christ,” said Emily Roberts.
“The Leader’s Summit taught me to be more confident in leadership when trying to positively influence students in my school,” Savannah Wright said.
Students enjoyed a day of intense training, as well as praise and worship by MIKESCHAIR. Chick-fil-A sponsored the event by providing financial support, materials, entertainment and lunch for everyone in attendance. The event was held at Southeastern Bible College. Leadership trainers included Dr. Jay Strack, founder and president of Student Leadership University, Brenda Ladun, ABC 33/40 news anchor, and Scott Dawson, founder of Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association. These respected leaders provided students with timeless knowledge to propel them as leaders in their school.
When asked what they liked most about the Leader’s Summit, Homewood Middle School students had the following to say:
“The list of ‘Qualities of Leaders’ presented at the Summit helped me see where I stand as a leader,” said Laine Smith.
“The Leader’s Summit taught me to live my life to the fullest with no regret and to start using leadership tools to do this. I want to standout as a Christian,” Joy Korley said.
Homewood Middle School’s First Priority Club has approximately 75 students and 35 leaders. Students stressed that they would really like to see their First Priority club grow and the Leader’s Summit helped them gain confidence to reach out to students in their school. They said they would like to show students how much fun you can have as a Christian.
We would like to give a special thanks to our sponsors and leadership trainers who helped to make this event a huge success.
The following is what other students had to say about the Leader’s Summit:
“I was inspired most by seeing all the leaders come together. Anyone can be a leader if they let God lead them. We all have the opportunity to be led and to lead.” – Lauren, Student
“I really enjoyed learning how to share God’s word with others.” – Kayla, Student
“Everyone can be a leader no matter how young or old, short or tall.” – Andrew, Student