Danville Independent Schools is excited to announce that Kendall Carver, KeSean Jones and Isabella Murray, sophomores from Danville High School, have been selected to attend the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) State Leadership Seminar.

State Leadership Seminars are residential programs that take place over the course of a few days, typically on a college or university campus. This year, Kentucky’s seminar is taking place in June at Berea College.

Kendall said, “I’m really excited for the opportunity and the experience that’s going to come with it, and I’m also excited that I’m going to get to meet new people.”

KeSean said, “I just felt like it’s a good opportunity to expand my portfolio, and I look forward to learning a lot of good life lessons and how to become a better leader.”

Isabella said, “I think it’s a really great opportunity, and I’m very excited for it.”

DHS Guidance Counselor Sarah Cantrell said DHS can send sophomores to the seminar each year, who learn how to be leaders in their communities.

“Networking is a big part of HOBY,” Cantrell said. “They get to meet with other students across the state who were selected by their schools and hear about some of the things they’re doing in their communities, and they do community projects while they’re there and they think about and brainstorm ways they can bring it back to their communities.”

The students were chosen based on essays they wrote about leadership. They provided examples of how they act as leaders in their communities and at DHS, including what organizations they’re involved with, ways they stand up to peer pressure and set a good example for their peers and try to make the best choices, in and out of school.

In Kendall’s essay, she focused on how she is an active member of the school student council, she’s a children’s ministry leader at her church and she wants to continue developing skills related to setting a good example, being supportive and providing support and empathy to others. KeSean’s essay focused on how he’s a leader on the DHS football team and how he works to set a good example regardless of what outside voices say. Isabella wrote her essay on working as a lifeguard at the Bunny Davis Center last summer, saying it gave her a great opportunity to become a leader and be a role model for the children who go to day camp at the center.