Southern U.P. high school students gather for leadership conference

FELCH — In Dickinson County, high school students were teaching other students today the value of leadership in their classrooms and their communities.

The North Dickinson Student Council hosted its fourth annual youth leadership conference. About 150 students attended from six southern U.P. schools and one northern Wisconsin school. The event allows students to share ideas that they find valuable with other students from nearby schools.

“We decided on topics, and then we looked at that topic and tried to figure out what kind of activities would be good for that topic and what would be fun for the kids to really get into it,” North Dickinson High School junior McKenna Christian said.

Communication served as the theme for this year’s conference. Many of the activities chosen by North Dickinson students concerned public speaking and conflict resolution skills.

“It’s put on by high school students for other high school students,” North Dickinson Student Council advisor Cory Roell said. “Hopefully, with the collaboration of the two of them, the other schools can take something from it and bring it back to their respective districts and implement it.”

Local businesses provided more than $2,000 worth of donations that allowed North Dickinson to host the conference free of charge.