Clarke student chosen to attend Iowa HOBY Youth Leadership Conference

The Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership conference is meant to provide lifelong leadership development opportunities that will empower individuals to achieve their highest potential.

Clarke sophomore Skyler Lewis was nominated by Clarke High School Counselor Jennifer Scott to attend the conference, which was held at Drake University June 8-10. Lewis then filled out his application and was accepted.

The event focused on volunteerism, excellence, organizational integrity, diversity, innovative thinking, community partnership and lifelong learning and leadership opportunities.

“I was in a group with nine other ambassadors out of 182 from across the state and had two junior staff with one senior staff,” said Lewis.

The students attending are referred to as ambassadors since they are there to represent their school. Only one Clarke student is chosen to attend. Students who are nominated to attend the conference must be kind, respectful, hard working, show growth and adaptability and show potential to be a great leader in hopes of bringing back to the community some of what they learn at the event.

The Iowa HOBY Youth Leadership Conference focused on changing the world by impacting youth in a fun and dynamic way. Topics of business, education, government and other professions were addressed via speakers.

The HOBY program does not promote any specific political party, religion or way of thinking. The goal is to cultivate critical thinking skills in students across the state by actively involving them in discussions and informal debates. The event was made up of speakers, leadership activities, social events and a special closing ceremony which parents were invited to attend.

“I made so many new friends and was able to be myself. ... I was still pretty shy through most of it but I pushed myself to have the most fun I could,” said Lewis.

The student ambassadors stayed in Drake University dorms on floors that were exclusively reserved for the conference and had two other ambassador roommates for the weekend.

The HOBY Youth Leadership Conference was first established in 1958 by actor Hugh O’Brian and was originally located in California. Now, there are 100 conference sites throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Japan and Jamaica. Over 14,000 students attend the HOBY Youth Leadership conferences annually.

“I absolutely loved the experience and am glad to have made 12 new friends. I had a blast,” said Lewis.