Nearly 60 Corvallis School District students of African American heritage, including students from Cheldelin, Linus Pauling, Corvallis High, College Hill, and Crescent Valley High, joined students from throughout the Willamette Valley to attend the 11th Annual African American Youth Leadership Conference in early April at Linfield College. Attendance topped 400 students with 36 schools participating in this year’s conference. In addition to the conference, students were given an official college tour of the Linfield College campus.
Conference activities included a keynote from John Neal Jr., a teacher and coach at Chemeketa Community College and workshop and breakout sessions. The purpose of this annual conference is to promote positive youth development in African American youth and multicultural youth of African descent by:
- Raising awareness on how to achieve personal goals
- Emphasizing the value of education
- Empowering future leadership
- Establishing a sense of community
- Increasing personal self-esteem and affirming cultural awareness
Thank you to our school principals for their support of this important extracurricular opportunity for students!