Each year, Plymouth High School nominates and sponsors one sophomore to participate in the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar. This year, the PHS faculty has chosen sophomore Kelsey Kruyer to represent PHS at the annual event. Kruyer will be a HOBY ambassador and will join hundreds of other nominated sophomores who will be representing high schools from all over the state on Thursday, June 8-11 at the University of Indianapolis.
Kruyer currently holds a 4.0 GPA and is ranked second in the sophomore class of 267 students. She is was elected as a class officer by her tenth grade classmates and she is the president of the Global Discussion Club, and a member of the PHS Speech and Debate team, a member of the school’s Pep, Spanish and LEAD respective clubs.
Plymouth High School Guidance Counselor John Fishback said each year the PHS faculty selects one member of the sophomore class to attend the HOBY seminar and represent PHS. “Our PHS teaching staff nominates sophomores who show leadership potential. Kelsey Kruyer was chosen because she shows great leadership potential.”
Kruyer said, “I first heard about HOBY when Mr. Fishback told me I was chosen for this honor and PHS was sponsoring me to attend. Since then, I have done my own research on the Hoby seminar. I am definitely looking forward to HOBY! I believe this will be a great experience and will bring forth many opportunities.”
According to hobyindiana.org, during the seminar, many dynamic leaders— all volunteers from the fields of business, education, government, and other professions—will address aspects of the changing world and the challenges future leaders will confront. The program will not promote any specific political party, religion, or way of thinking; but is designed to develop critical thinking skills by actively involving participants in discussions and informal debate. The program also includes outstanding speakers, leadership activities, social events, and a special closing ceremony to which parents are invited.
Participants will be assigned dorm rooms on campus with two to three participants per room on floors reserved exclusively for the seminar. Parents, friends, and family members are discouraged from calling students during the seminar due to the disruption caused to panels and activities.
Plymouth High School covers the registration fee for Kruyer to attend the 2018 HOBY event. According to the HOBY Indiana website additional costs at the seminar for meals, lodging and training materials have been generously provided by sponsors throughout our state, including businesses, foundations, individuals, and service organizations wishing to support leadership education.
During the seminar, students are asked to undertake a community service project(s) involving at least 100 hours during the year following the seminar, that will make a difference in their school, community, place of worship, or other environment where the attendees see a need. Students who complete the Leadership for Service (L4S) Challenge within 12 months of their seminar are eligible for the HOBY L4S Challenge Award and the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Alumni who log 4,000 hours of service receive the President’s Call to Service Award from HOBY. To date, HOBY ambassadors have performed over 3 million hours of volunteer service in their communities.
For 57 years, HOBYhas helped to cultivate leaders by inspiring a global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service, and innovation. HOBY programs annually provide more than 10,000 local and international high school students the opportunity to participate in unique leadership training, service learning and motivation-building experiences. HOBY also provides adults the opportunity to make a significant impact on the lives of youth by volunteering, and today more than 4,000 volunteers annually and over 425,000 alumni proudly make up the HOBY family. For further information on HOBY, visitwww.hoby.org.
