Mount Holyoke Launches Program for High School Student Leaders and MHC Mentors

take the lead!

Mount Holyoke has developed a new program to give ambitious high school women a head start on leadership in the twenty-first century. "Take the Lead!," a summit to convene at MHC this fall, will bring together a diverse group of thirty high school juniors from New England and the Mid-Atlantic states for a long weekend of leadership-building workshops and events. Participants will be joined by MHC faculty, staff, alumnae, and students. The goal of the program is to help high school students develop and implement plans of action to address specific school or community concerns that they have identified. The three-day summit will begin October 12.

Scheduled speakers include alumnae Alexandra Gromko '91, an Emmy award-winning news anchor; Lydia Okutoro '98, a teacher and author of the award-winning anthology Quiet Storm: Voices of Young Black Poets; and Karin Travers '91, a research fellow at the Harvard AIDS Institute and a champion in-line skater, who, with her twin sister Robin, spearheaded a fundraising program for the Leukemia Society of America.

"Take the Lead!" will also pair high school participants with MHC students who will function as leadership mentors. These outstanding MHC student leaders will host their high school partners throughout the conference. Their guidance will extend beyond the event, as their younger counterparts begin working to effect change in their own communities. MHC mentors will receive special training this fall for the program and stipends of $100. Applications for leadership mentor positions are available through the Weissman Center for Leadership and are due April 10.

The College will soon be seeking nominations for high school participants. Nomination packets will be mailed March 27 to MHC faculty, staff, and students; nominations are due on April 21. High school students who are nominated for the program will then be asked to apply by May 31. Participants will be selected on the basis of their potential for leadership and making a difference, as demonstrated by their academic, extracurricular, and community involvement, as well as their insight and motivation. Selection will be competitive, and space will be limited to thirty students.

"We anticipate that this will be a win-win situation," says Patricia VandenBerg, MHC's executive director of communications and the program's committee chair. "It should provide growth and inspiration for both the high school participants and our own leadership mentors." In addition, VandenBerg feels the summit will "enhance the reputation of the College as an institution at the forefront of developing dynamic civic-minded leaders."

Interested in Becoming a Mentor?

Students interested in becoming leadership mentors for high school juniors during the "Take the Lead!" summit October 12&endash;15, should contact Leah Kane '00, Eva Paus, or Lee Bowie at the Weissman Center for Leadership, 538-3071. Applications are due April 10.

Know Any High School Leaders?

The College will soon be seeking nominations of outstanding high school sophomores for participation in "Take the Lead!" (They will participate in the October summit during their junior year.) Watch the mail for nomination packets!