Future Leaders Day to give students a chance to learn skills
Albert Liu, Farragut High School student representative on Farragut Municipal Planning Commission and on Knox County Board of Education is taking every opportunity to learn leadership skills.
He and fellow FHS Youth in Government members want to give middle school students in grades sixth through eighth a similar opportunity with Future Leaders Day, which involves sessions to help younger students learn more about leadership, from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 6, at FHS Commons and classrooms.
Future Leaders Day is a one-day event in which any student in Knox County can take part in interactive sessions about civics, the legal system, business and international politics.
“We’ve got a lot of rooms booked, so we will be able to move around, have big spaces to speak,” said Liu, president of the school’s Youth in Government organization. “We’ve got teachers who are ready to be there, so we’re really looking forward to it. We’re really excited.
There is a $20 fee to participate. Register by Saturday, Nov. 29, at https://forms.gle/cgPZx4QvYseDHkFKA
“Future Leaders Day is about two years in the works now,” he said. “We weren’t able to have it that first year just because of all the planning that’s gone into it, but we’ve got it all figured out, so we’re really looking forward to a first-ever Future Leaders Day.”
Liu explained he and a couple other FHS student leaders “wanted to make an opportunity for middle schoolers to give them, like, a first taste of what high school civic engagement looks like.”
And, “We’ve involved a lot of other humanities clubs, like DECA, the business club at Farragut (High School),” he said. “We’ve got mock trial that goes over everything about the legal system.
“We’ve got Youth in Government that focuses on American politics and American government and public speaking,” he said. “We’ve also got Model United Nations, which focuses on global affairs and international politics.
“What we really wanted to do is give a chance for middle schoolers to learn about that,” he said. “I know public speaking can be really intimidating, so we wanted to give them a first taste of that”
Also, “a lot of middle schoolers are looking to join clubs when they get into high school, so we wanted to give them maybe an opportunity to get a leg up or just see what those clubs are all about even before they get into high school, so they’re not bogged down in that first week, when they’re learning everything, and they know what they’re going into,” he said. “I think (Future Leaders Day) covers a lot of things.
“We’ve got some great activities planned to achieve all of that,” he said.
