Four of West New York’s best eighth grade students from Our Lady of Libera School, 5800 Kennedy Blvd., will be going to Princeton for the National Youth Leaders State Conference, with other outstanding eighth and ninth graders from across New Jersey, from Feb. 9 to Feb. 12.
NYLSC is sponsored by the non-profit educational organization Congressional Youth Leadership Council.
“The steps each person takes in discovering his or her own leadership strengths can be a very personal process,” said Mike Lasday, executive director of the CYLC. “The National Youth Leaders State Conference will help students get at the heart of their innate talents and skills, and will also help them identify how best they can serve within their communities.”
Founded in 1985, the CYLC has more than 400 members of the United States Congress serving on the council’s Honorary Congressional Board of Advisors, who speak to the youths during conferences, and more than 40 embassies on the Honorary Board of Embassies.
Future leaders
Representing Our Lady of Libera this year are previous participants Joseph Bernardo, Priya Bacchus, Lyliette Aquino, and Brittany Amell.
“I [participated] in the sixth grade in 2004 when we went to Washington D.C., and I was nominated again by the organization [this year],” said Joseph Bernardo, 14.
Joseph had also been joined that year by Priya Bacchus, 13, and remembered going to see all the monuments at the nation’s capital, as well as what he gained from the first time he went.
“It was a good experience for me, and this year it’s completely different,” said Bacchus.
“It helps strengthen our leadership skills, our character, and improves our public speaking,” said Bernardo, who was also invited back the year before but was unable to attend. “This was my last chance to participate in elementary school and relay what I have learned to the Junior National Honor’s Society.”
Bernardo is president and Bacchus is secretary of the school’s Junior National Honor’s Society.
This year’s development conference is entitled “Courageous Leadership,” and is designed to help the students take an “introspective and highly personalized assessment of their leadership skills and abilities.”
“In the conferences, they try to expand and develop on your personality, and encourage you to be more open to people,” said Aquino, 13, who has participated in two previous conferences. “This is my third time attending. The first two times, I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect, so now I’m hoping to be more open.”
While Bernardo, Bacchus and Aquino have already gone through this before, this will be the first time for Amell, 13. Luckily, her fellow peers have been filling her in and preparing her for the trip.
“They told me there are a lot of new people we’re going to meet, and about the conferences and activities, [and] you should always go and try new things,” said Amell.
Throughout the four-day program, the students will participate in activities and workshops teaching strategies for public speaking and taking action toward their dreams while still maintaining the courage of their convictions.
“Some of the students who have gone before are now heading our activities in the school because they have confidence and set a good example for the students,” said Principal Ana Maria Castaneda.
Stay at hotel
The students will be attending their conferences at the hotel they will be housed in while in Princeton.
“I’m hoping to bond with more students in high school because I’m getting kind of nervous about going,” said Bacchus, who is planning to attend a Catholic high school.
“I want to go so I can be better prepared for high school and be more confident,” said Amell.
The kids also encourage each other to attend these conferences when possible.
“It’s a great opportunity to go, and [it’s an honor if] you’re picked out of many people from different parts of the country,” said Aquino.
Upon their return, the students will bring the lessons they learned to the student body of Our Lady of Libera and instill these values through their work in the National Honor Society and Student Council.
“There is going to be a chain reaction and it will affect the students in a positive way; I’m very proud of them and happy that they are going,” said Castaneda.
For more information, visit www.cylc.org.