2024 HSLP: Day 3
High School Leaders Program Class of 2024
Day 3: Monday, July 15th
Reported By: Paul Bennett Northam, Hampton Roads Academy and Macy Waid, Harrisonburg High School
After eating breakfast at O-Hill, our class traveled to Clark Hall to begin our first class of the program. We started with a discussion of Ethics with Sarah Campbell which included the values tactics pyramid, the five tests of ethics, the four types of ethical dilemmas, decision-making principles, and the four steps in ethical decisions. Following that, the class split into groups according to the region each individual is from. Each group led a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of their region which was followed by a discussion of the overall strengths and weaknesses of the entire Commonwealth of Virginia. By the end of this activity, each group had presented their discussion results.
After our lunch at O-Hill, the 33 youth participants met our main teacher for the duration of the program: Mrs. Heubeck. She brought in guest speaker Kody Grant, a Tribal liaison with the University of Virginia (UVA), to discuss Virginian Indian political leadership within their community and with the government of European Settlers. Following this informational presentation, Mrs. Heubeck interactively discussed classroom expectations and the mission of UVA.
Near the end of class, the discussion of leadership in Virginia provoked many opinions, reactions, and interesting discussions. We discussed the Promise of America and analyzed two different passages: Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and The Duties of American Citizenship by Theodore Roosevelt. Then, we participated in an interactive activity involving sticky notes and ranking excuses by good excuses, bad excuses, and neutral excuses of why someone may not be inclined to participate in politics. This finally led us into a discussion of the different values of the United States compared to the values of bordering countries like Canada.
By the end of the day, the class collectively got to know each other better, ate O-Hill meatloaf, and got excited for the next week and a half ahead.