On January 17, fifteen Southern Lehigh High School freshmen and sophomores gathered together at Lehigh University for the fifth annual Multicultural Student Leadership Conference presented by The Lehigh Valley Student Leadership Association. The conference was designed to encourage and motivate students to become leaders.

Southern Lehigh students were able to participate due to the efforts of assistant principal Mrs. Beth Guarriello who organized and recruited freshman and sophomores to attend this year’s conference.

“I used to work with Harrison Bailey, one of the men who started this conference. I really wanted to get Southern Lehigh involved in such a beneficial activity,” Mrs. Guarriello said. “Being a leader is difficult. This conference gives students that extra push to shine at their full potential.”

The conference was organized by Mr. Harrison Bailey III, principal of Liberty High School. He created this conference six years ago along with Mr. Tyrone Russell and Mr. Ferdinad Surita.

“We knew that we often ask students to be leaders, but we don’t do a lot to teach them how to be a leader,” Mr. Bailey said. “We realized we had to train students and give them exposure.”

Throughout the day, there were multiple activities including four workshops: What’s Your “Y,” which focused on discovering purpose, Seize the Day, which taught students how to make the most of time, Information is Power, which concentrated on being educated, and Opportunity is The New Freedom, which suggested that students take advantage of new experiences. Also at the conference, there many key speakers, panel discussions with questions, and even a college and career fair which featured 12 local and statewide postsecondary schools along with local workers in different jobs.

“I took away multiple leadership skills, and I got to learn about many different colleges that I’m interested in,” freshman Vanessa Oviedo said.

Along with Southern Lehigh, 15 other local high schools were represented at the conference. Thanks to many sponsors including PPL, Wells Fargo, Air Products, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, and Easton Coach, all 450 students invited to the conference attended for free. Along with the experience, they also got complimentary breakfast and lunch.

The Southern Lehigh students who participated all appreciated the experience.

“I enjoyed the conference a lot,” freshman Shea Sullivan said. “It gave me ideas of what to think about along with different career options.”