About 38 area high school students will participate in Leadership Texarkana's Today's Youth, Tomorrow's Leaders today through Thursday.
The program's purpose is to engage and equip high-school-aged working together for community excellence, pride and progress.
TYTL Partners with Leadership Texarkana include Liberty-Eylau Independent School District, Pleasant Grove ISD, Texarkana ISD and Texarkana, Ark., School District. The four school districts provide a portion of the funding for this leadership opportunity. Leadership Texarkana funds cover the remaining 50 percent. Oaklawn Rotary has also contributed support for this year's program.
Day-long sessions will rotate among each of the four partnering districts. The majority of the 38 participating students will be junior or seniors at one of the four local school districts, with additional students representing Genoa Central, Redwater, DeKalb, New Boston and Hooks school districts.
The curriculum centers around fostering personal growth for effective leadership, as well as opportunities to learn the importance of working together for leadership success and making a positive difference in the community.
Students will meet with Texarkana's two mayors, superintendents from the participating high schools, nonprofit leaders and public staff and volunteer community leaders whose business is community pride and beautification. Most importantly, the students will be working in inter-district groups to ponder the possibilities for the greater Texarkana area.
On Thursday, the final day, a celebratory reception for graduates is planned at 5:30 p.m. at TISD's Sullivan Center on Summerhill Road. Students who successfully complete the program earn cords to wear at their high school commencement exercises.
Program facilitators for 2017 are TASD's Theresa Cowling (LT Class of 2015) and TISD's Wes Kirkham (LT Class of 2014); TYTL Board Chair is L=EISD's Amy Roberts (LT Class of 2016).
Begun by Leadership Texarkana in 1995, this will be the 22nd class of TYTL.