Envision’s 9th
Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit is underway, with over 2500 middle school, high school and college students from across the United States gathering in our nation’s capital for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play a role in their own future. At the Summit, student delegates will not only attend the historic 58th Presidential Inauguration on the National Mall, but also collaborate with like-minded, high-aspiring students on projects designed to strengthen their potential as future leaders.
Honing Skills Through Real-World Group Projects
As with all Envision
career and leadership programs, our mission for the Summit is to help students turn their career and life aspirations into reality, while positively impacting the world around them. The Summit’s
Delegations for Change workshops enable the students to select an issue they’re passionate about and then work collaboratively to devise real-world solutions. These workshops require the students to apply skills they’ll need for future success – skills like teamwork, communication, and thought leadership. Working in small groups, they’ll achieve a deeper understanding of the challenges of the future, and apply their own creativity and ingenuity to formulate solutions. They will then hone their critical public-speaking skills, stepping outside their comfort level to present their solutions to the other Summit attendees.
Learn By Doing
Experiential learning makes data and concepts more “real” by applying them to hands-on tasks, with real results. As the students interact with the information, it becomes real to them. They engage the creative portions of their brains and seek their own unique and most-fulfilling solutions. This creativity, and the variety of results produced, enriches the learning experience – and society – as a whole.
Most experiential learning activities are communal in nature, with students working in groups. Through team projects, students learn to work together more effectively, developing a plan of action and utilizing the unique qualities of each team member. In turn, the students learn real-life leadership skills, as well as how to build consensus, apply critical thinking, and adapt to changing circumstances.
The personal nature of experiential learning engages the students’ emotions as well as enhancing their knowledge and skills. When students see the concrete fruits of their labor, they experience greater gratification and pride, thus enhancing their enthusiasm for continued learning.
Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders
While our recent election seems to have been divisive, our Summit scholars are instead demonstrating the power of collaboration. The Delegations for Change curriculum empowers these future leaders to leverage their own group diversity, as they contribute solutions to real-world issues facing their generation.
We believe the experience of the Summit – the speakers, workshops, and the Inauguration itself – will be truly instrumental in helping Summit scholars to Carpe Futurum, and move forward with skills, inspiration, passion, and a broader world view.
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Andrew Potter, MA; MA NEJS
Chief Academic Officer, Envision
background-image: a building with the American flag in front of it