A total of 55 high school sophomores from all across the southern region of Arkansas convened for the Hugh O’Brian Youth (HOBY) Leadership Seminar held at Southern Arkansas University from June 17-19, 2016.
The student participants, known as HOBY Ambassadors, took part in hands-on activities and explored their own personal leadership skills while learning how to lead others and make a positive impact in their communities.
During their visit in the Magnolia community, the group compiled more than 150 hours of community service at three locations during what they call Leadership in Action. Around 25 HOBY Ambassadors were dispatched to the Boys and Girls Club of Magnolia where they cleaned baseball equipment and sorted t-shirts and photographs. Around 10 students went to the Columbia County Library where they helped paint what will become the new Teen Room. Also, around 15 of the HOBY Ambassadors did painting and other projects at the Magale Library at SAU. Making Magnolia Blossom provided support in coordinating this year’s HOBY projects.
HOBY paints new Teen Room at Columbia County Library
At the end of their seminars, HOBY Ambassadors are challenged to give back by serving at least 100 volunteer hours in their communities. Students who complete the Leadership for Service (L4S) Challenge within 12 months of their seminar are eligible for the HOBY L4S Challenge Award and the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Alumni who log 4,000 hours of service receive the President’s Call to Service Award from HOBY. To date, HOBY Ambassadors have performed over 3 million hours of volunteer service in their communities.
HOBY features a curriculum that draws inspiration from the Social Change Model of Leadership, emphasizing three areas of leadership development. Ambassadors learn through a Meyer-Briggs-type personality assessment, hands-on group projects, and a global community perspectives exercise—all designed to introduce them to the idea of leadership for social change.
“The energy in the room is unbelievable,” said Leadership Seminar Chairperson Justin Buck. “Every year, I am amazed at how quickly these students form friendships with one another and the quality of the ideas that come from focused group discussions about personal, group, and societal leadership.”
HOBY volunteers clean equipment at Boys & Girls Club of Magnolia
SAU was honored to host HOBY for the first time, and many representatives from campus participated. Dr. Donna Allen, vice president for student affairs, and SAU President Dr. Trey Berry both offered presentations for the HOBY Ambassadors. Serving on a societal leadership panel discussion were Deana Taylor, SAU community involvement and parent programming coordinator, and Chair of the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences Dr. Deborah Wilson. Helping at the Magale Library project were Del Duke, Lynn DiPier, Nicole Szadziewicz and Tanya Knight. SAU graduate student Corbin Franklin worked as one of the HOBY mentors. Providing additional support in the planning and execution on campus were Britta Clark, Arvia Askew, Victor Duke and Derek Hall. SAU Housing also hosted HOBY in Honors Hall.
For 58 years, Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership has helped to cultivate leaders by inspiring a global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service, and innovation. HOBY programs annually provide more than 10,000 local and international high school students the opportunity to participate in unique leadership training, service learning and motivation-building experiences. HOBY also provides adults the opportunity to make a significant impact on the lives of youth by volunteering, and today more than 4,000 volunteers annually and over 425,000 alumni proudly make up the HOBY family. For further information on HOBY, visit www.hoby.org. “Like” Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HOBY and follow the organization on Twitter via @HOBY. For Arkansas HOBY information, check out our website: www.arkansashoby.com.
For further information about HOBY programs and sponsorship opportunities in your area contact Justin Buck, south@arkansashoby.com.
