Students from seven National Christian School Association (NCSA) schools attended the 2021 Presidential Leadership Institute July 11-17, hosted by York College. With 36 student participants and 14 sponsors representing schools in Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas, the campus was blessed by the week-long training and leadership program. The Presidential Leadership Institute, now in its seventh year, is a joint effort of York College, Strata Leadership, and the NCSA to help students work in collaboration to address real-world challenges. The themes of faith, service, character, and leadership are woven together to challenge and inspire future leaders for a lifetime.

 

 

Student leadership teams experience a week of inspiration provided by CEOs, authors, York College faculty, public servants, and other influential figures. This year’s speakers included Mary Eisenhower, former CEO of People to People International; Thomas Hill and Shad Glass of the Kimray Corporation; Mark Stansberry, author and songwriter; Christi Lones, YC history professor; Dr. Sam Smith, president at York College; Dr. Brandon Tatum, chief strategy officer at Oklahoma Christian; Dr. William Ostan, president and founder at Arc of Justice; and Dr. Nathan Mellor, author and leadership expert. ​

 

On Thursday, students enjoyed a trip to Lincoln to tour the state capitol and meet with Greg Adams, Nebraska State Senator (2007-2015) and former mayor of York. Under normal circumstances, the group would eat in the Governor’s mansion and hear a presentation in the legislative chamber, but with COVID restrictions, Adams talked with PLI participants at the Lincoln Station Great Hall in the Haymarket.

 

The experience is meant to empower students to make lasting changes on their campuses in the upcoming school year. Each team comes with a situation they wish to remedy or improve at their school, then work throughout the week on solutions and strategies. The climax of the week is a TED Talk-style presentation from each student team, laying out the plan they will implement at their school.

 

The week ended with a banquet to celebrate the week of hard-work. The evening was especially meaningful to Alyssa Davis, a junior at Clarksville Christian Academy in Tennessee. Davis was recognized at the conclusion of the week with the Howard Todd Servant Leadership Scholarship Award. The full tuition scholarship to York College is given annually to the PLI student who best demonstrates leadership and character.

 

Seventeen York College students and alumni served as mentors throughout the week including three recipients of the Howard Todd Scholarship: Sebastian Rolon (2017), Bekah Powell (2018), and Abbe James (2019). Of the NCSA schools in attendance were Alabama Christian Academy (Montgomery, Ala.), Clarksville Christian Academy (Clarksville, Tenn.), Lubbock Christian School (Lubbock, Texas), Mt. Dora Christian Academy (Mt. Dora, Fla.), Oklahoma Christian Academy (Edmond, Okla.), Snook Christian Academy (Foley, Ala.) and Wichita Christian School (Wichita Falls, Texas).

 

PLI 2022 will be held July 10-16.