Future leaders from Carter County recently had the opportunity to share what 2016-17 had to offer from a local and state level.
Local high school students shared fond memories Monday evening during the Carter County Youth Leadership commencement event held on the Milligan College campus.
Students that participated in this year’s class include:
Abbey Gouge, Seth Heaton, T.J. Roberson and Sarah Taylor (Cloudland); Brett Deaton, Heather Greer, Kinzey Hill and Kaysi Royston (Hampton); Olivia Kelly, Kaitlyn Roberts and Hannah Younce (Happy Valley); Amara Bunten, Ethan Eggleston, Ethan Fields, Jacob Hensley, Tory Irmeger, Chloe Lyons, Carlie Mckeehan, Cassidee Ray, Caleb Skeen, Annie Street, Jayla Wandell and Sadie Whitehead (Elizabethton); Madison Ensor and Corie Scheuttler (Unaka).
The Youth Leadership is a program held in conjunction with Milligan College and the Elizabethton/Carter County Chamber of Commerce while being sponsored by Citizens Bank, which allows high school juniors the opportunity to pursue leadership projects.
Throughout the school year, the students participated in a variety of activities, spanning from working with local government, meeting Gov. Bill Haslam and going on a leadership building trip at Doe River Gorge.
David Oiler with Citizens Bank served as the keynote speaker for the event and praised the efforts of the students.
Even though the Milligan graduate played with the Elizabethton Twins, he stressed to students that continuing education is essential.
“Continue to educate yourself and grow, Oiler said.
Broken up into five different groups, each of the youth worked on different projects. The projects included working with the TLC Community Center, creating Blessing Bags, Mini Miracles and assisting with the Carter County Mayor’s Office.
While going through the programs, each of the students spoke fondly of the chance to give back to the community and thanked Chandrea Shell and Lucas Hitechew with the program for their guidance during the year.