3 Student leaders From Hazelwood Recognized by St. Louis County

Three high school students from the Hazelwood School District were recognized for their student leadership and had a chance to spend a day off-campus to meet with other student leaders.

Joanna Joye of Hazelwood West, Kristen Yeager of Hazelwood Central and Kendra Tatum of Hazelwood East were selected for the Outstanding Student Leader Recognition Program organized by the office of St. Louis County Human Services.

In mid-September, they all spent a day at Washington University in St. Louis at a leadership conference with other students from St. Louis County high schools also chosen for the program. A total of 60 students were invited.

Joye is the president of West’s National Honor Society, captain of the cross country team, is a school VIP and is involved with Channel 77, the school television station, yet she very humbly said she didn’t know why she was nominated.

“It was great to meet other leaders from other schools,” said Joye. “It was also good to be able to talk about the differences in our schools, the similarities and ways to improve them.”

Yeager is the captain of the girl’s varsity swim team, a member of National Honor Society, a scorekeeper for the boy’s swim team and says that she does “a lot of community service.” She is also a YMCA camp counselor for a summer program in Potosi, where she is a lifeguard as well. Each week, she is responsible for a cabin of 15 girls age 11 to 12.

Summing up her experience with the leadership program, she said it was “an eye-opening experience.”

“Working with different students in different teams, we worked together on lots of activities, like being creative and team-building,” said Yeager. “It was a friendship building process, too. Some of us are friends on Facebook after spending just a few hours together.”

The leadership conference included an awards ceremony at the St. Louis County Government Center in Clayton.

St. Louis County started the Outstanding Student Leader Program 25 years ago to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of high school students to their schools and communities and to promote youth leadership development and training. The principals of each county high school are asked to choose a senior deemed to be an outstanding student leader by virtue of academic, athletic, extracurricular and community service achievements and contributions.
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