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High school students from the Blue Ridge region of north Georgia attended the pilot Building Outstanding Leadership Development (BOLD) Summit at the University of North Georgia's (¹û¶³´«Ã½) Blue Ridge Campus in late July.

Sandy Ott, executive director of ¹û¶³´«Ã½'s Blue Ridge Campus, co-coordinated the program with Dr. Rose Procter, director of the TRUIST Center for Ethical Leadership in the Mike Cottrell College of Business.

"This program targets a regional approach for the service area, particularly for the Blue Ridge Campus," Ott said. "Our goal is to bring high school student leaders from across the region together so that they can learn from each other, networking not only with their high school, but with the whole region."

Ott said the high school students were able to take tools and resources back to build stronger leadership opportunities in their high schools for clubs and student organizations.

Gilmer High School senior Cooper Williams attended BOLD because he felt that the experience would help hone his leadership skills.

"I came here under the assumption that I could improve my understanding of leadership. It lived up to my expectations,” Williams said, adding that he’d recently participated in ¹û¶³´«Ã½’s National Intelligence Summer Academy (NISA), something he "enjoyed as much as BOLD."

The summit provided the outstanding resources of a state leadership institution serving high school students in this community, Procter said.

Participants underwent assessments around leadership and values-based decision making.

"This may be the first opportunity that high school students received this type of leadership development for their own self-awareness," she said. "Most of them don't see themselves as leaders, even in high school. We’re focusing on interpersonal skills, team building and general interaction with other human beings because they do a lot of this and don't know necessarily how to interact at a community level."

Attendees also participated in team building and communication skills training under the direction of McLain Martin, graduate assistant for Outdoor Pursuits at ¹û¶³´«Ã½. Martin, who has a Bachelor of Business Administration in management, is currently working on his second degree from ¹û¶³´«Ã½: a Master of Public Administration. Martin said he plans to work for the National Park Service.

"It’s been my dream since I was 14," he said.

Community leaders including District 7 State Rep. Johnny Chastain spoke about the importance of being a good leader and how that strengthens individual communities and organizations.  

"Communication is key," Chastain said. "We all get busy and text people, but if it's important, don't be afraid to go see somebody and look them in the eye or pick up the phone. You can't over-communicate."