Learning & Growing
This summer was year two for the Youth Leadership Initiative program! This is a program designed to train, empower, and expose select 15-18 year-olds to leadership skills and opportunities. This program is filled with devotionals focused on Bible stories highlighting different aspects of leadership, classroom instructional periods, guest speakers to share their experiences and views on biblical leadership, and tours of local colleges, libraries, and team building activities.
Some highlights included our lessons on creating SMART goals, finance and budgeting, and taking job assessment tests. We toured the Goodwill Career and Technology Academy, the Torchy’s Headquarters, Austin Community College and Whole Foods! One of the students’ absolute favorite activities was doing an Escape Room where they rocked it working as a team to accomplish the goal.
Something we focused on this summer was teaching students the importance of body language and presenting themselves respectfully during interactions, especially when someone is dedicating their time to guide and educate them. We highlighted how positive body language—like maintaining eye contact, smiling, and actively listening—can make interactions more respectful and meaningful. To put this into practice, we organized a fascinating tour of Whole Foods in Downtown Austin! Before the tour, we reviewed key points: the significance of standing upright, nodding to show engagement, using appropriate gestures to express gratitude and interest, and asking questions!
During the Whole Foods tour, all of the students applied these lessons intentionally. They greeted the employees with genuine smiles, maintained eye contact, and actively engaged in the conversation by asking thoughtful questions and nodding appreciatively. Their enthusiastic participation created a positive experience for both the Whole Foods staff and themselves.
We are continually impressed with our students and their desire to learn and grow. They’ve exceeded our expectations and we are looking forward to more conversations throughout the year and for what next summer has in store!
