Waynflete students attend Maine Youth Leadership Day

On November 3, nine Waynflete students joined nearly 1,000 of their peers from across the state for the annual Maine Youth Leadership Day hosted by Hyde School in Bath. Grounded in “the importance of what it takes to be a leader with empathy, persistence, and determination,” participants listened to Shawn Gorman of L.L.Bean speak about his leadership style at the helm of a billion-dollar family-owned business before heading to a series of youth-led workshops on various aspects of leadership and leadership styles.

The group reflected on the experience after returning to campus, with everyone able to share at least one essential lesson from the conference that included an expanded definition of what it means to be a leader, the idea that leadership looks different for each person, that there are multiple ways to lead, and that often being a leader means stepping back and listening—or letting others step forward.

To a person, each student who attended the event felt it had been worth their time and that Waynflete should continue to send students on an annual basis. We plan to follow up with this group of students to talk more about leadership opportunities at Waynflete.