Rise Above It and LOCC Hosted Successful Youth Leadership Summit

October 9, 2015

Through music, dancing and games, students learned how to be Future Leaders of the World.

The 2015 Youth Leadership Summit, on Sept. 28 and 29 at The Harvest Church in Lexington, was a great success!

The summit, hosted by Lexington One Community Coalition (LOCC) and Rise Above It Lexington Two Community Coalition, had 122 middle school students participate on day one and 78 high schoolers on day two.

Students chanted, “Leaders stay positive! Leaders bring action! Leaders take a stand!” This chant is used by students to encourage each other to be “Future Leaders of the World,” or F.L.O.W., the summit’s theme.

The training agency, Leading to Change (LTC), returned to facilitate this year’s summit. An expert in encouraging action for a cause, speaker Eric Rowles used innovation and interactive activities to educate the youth leaders on the power of leading by example.

With music, dancing and games, students learned the importance of leading others to take a stand on being drug and alcohol free.

These future leaders left the summit with the knowledge of how to educate others on the dangers of drugs and alcohol, the importance of prevention and a confidence that they will make a change.

 “I stay positive, and I have the will to make a difference.”- Rene Duggins, High School Student

LRADAC’s Community Services Department“To make a change you have to take a chance.”- Austin Webber, High School Student

LRADAC is the designated alcohol abuse and drug abuse authority for Lexington and Richland Counties of South Carolina. The public, not-for-profit agency offers a wide array of prevention, intervention and treatment programs in locations convenient to residents of both counties. The agency has a budget of approximately $10 million and serves more than 5,000 clients per year.