Seaford Sophomores Gain Leadership Experience

Press release from the Seaford School District:

June 18, 2021

Four Seaford High School sophomores learned what it takes to be a good leader, when they attended a two-day virtual conference on June 5 and 6. Will Cascio, Taylor DiFondi, Billy Kind and Taylor Purcell were selected by school officials to take part in the 2021 Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership seminar for lower New York.

They interacted with aspiring student leaders from Long Island, New York City and Westchester and heard from a variety of speakers who shared their leadership success stories. The students said they were inspired by the community service projects that others have launched, and look to make their own mark in the Seaford community.

In addition to hearing from motivational speakers, the students also were placed into breakout rooms with their peers from schools throughout the region. They took part in different leadership activities such as an escape room simulation and a sales pitch creation.

Seaford’s HOBY participants said they learned that leadership isn’t about telling other people what to do, but rather bringing people together and using everyone’s talents and strengths to accomplish a goal. Billy explained that he gained a better understanding of how to listen to other people’s voices and ideas in a group setting and ensure that everyone feels included in the process.

“Understanding that everyone’s perspectives are important and special will help me not just in leadership positions but with all aspects of life,” Billy said.

Taylor DiFondi and Taylor Purcell both said they learned a lot about themselves and their own leadership qualities.

“This experience helped me realize my personal traits,” Taylor Purcell said, “and now that I have identified my strengths, I can use this to identify problems in my community and help solve them in the future.”

Taylor DiFondi said she discovered that she is a good problem solver. She also noted that good leaders are those who are able to bring out leadership abilities in others.

Will, who described his leadership style as “fact-based and analytical” said he learned that leadership involves in a learning curve. No one steps into that role knowing everything, he said, and the best leaders are those who are willing to learn, grow and accept that they might fail along the way.

“It’s OK to take time to learn it,” he said.

Students attend HOBY as 10th graders, because it is as juniors and seniors that they typically take on leadership roles in the school, whether in their classes, in clubs or on sports teams. The four students are already involved in numerous activities as they head into their final two years at Seaford High School.

One charge for the HOBY participants will be taking the knowledge they learned during the conference and bringing it to others within the school. Taylor DiFondi said the community service message at the conference really stood out for her, and she learned ways to help her school and community that she never thought of.

“Everyone should hear the messages,” she said, “and we can spread them.”

This press release was produced by the Seaford School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.