MMI announces 2020 Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar ambassadors
MMI Preparatory School sophomores Alain Benitez and Connor Spencer were selected to represent MMI at the 2020 Central Pennsylvania Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) Seminar, which will be held May 14-17 at Shippensburg University. Sophomore Andrew Blasko was selected as an alternate.
Alain Benitez is the son of Iris Mendoza of West Hazleton and Jose Benitez of Elmont. Connor Spencer is the son of Christopher and Christina Spencer of Mountaintop. Andrew Blasko is the son of Andrew Blasko of Freeland and Renee Lapchak of Drums.
Each spring, 10,000 high school sophomores from across the country join one of HOBY’s 70 State Leadership Seminars to hone their leadership talents and apply them to become effective, ethical leaders in their home, school, workplace, and community. The leadership programs are designed to prepare students to turn their ideas and goals into reality. Each program adheres to the five core HOBY values: Volunteerism, Integrity, Excellence, Diversity, and Community Partnership.
MMI selects two students through an essay-based application process to represent the school at the seminar.
At HOBY, high school sophomores build their leadership potential through an inspiring Leadership Seminar based on three leadership perspectives: Personal, Group, and Societal. As many as 300 “ambassadors” from high schools across the state or country gather at their local HOBY State Leadership Seminar between April and June to: experience life on a university campus; interact with local community leaders—from CEOs to business owners to doctors to media experts—through panels, presentations, and group discussions about real-world issues; participate in hands-on activities to explore and exercise leadership on personal and group levels; form diverse relationships with adult professionals, college-age mentors, and high school students from across the state with diverse leadership styles and backgrounds; conduct a community service project to put leadership-for-service skills into action; and open opportunities for internships, mentorship programs, and other HOBY Ambassadors Connect benefits.
After each seminar, HOBY alumni are challenged to complete 100 hours of community service within the next year as a way to put their passion and newly-built leadership skills into action.
As America’s foremost youth leadership organization, HOBY has a long history of successfully motivating young people to develop into outstanding leaders. Much of the work at HOBY involves young people exploring and identifying their unique leadership skills. Through a program that stresses self-knowledge, uniqueness, and authenticity, not conformity, students learn to mobilize their own unique traits and are exposed to particular leadership principles that they can explore and incorporate in a fashion that is true to their own personality.
Sophomores, from left, Alain Benitez and Connor Spencer will represent MMI Preparatory School as ambassadors at the 2020 Central Pennsylvania Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) Seminar. Also pictured at right is HOBY alternate Andrew Blasko.
About MMI Preparatory School
For 140 years, MMI Preparatory School has been providing dedicated area students with a comprehensive and inspiring 6th through 12th grade college preparatory program that maximizes each individual’s academic, social, and character potential in preparation for success in college and beyond. The school is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS). MMI is a school where every student can reach their full potential: academically, ethically, and socially. For more information about MMI Preparatory School, visit www.mmiprep.org or call 570-636-1108.