Youth summit to become annual event

The first annual Fayette Leadership Youth Summit (FLYS) was held July 16 at Pinewood Studios’ Atlanta Movie Production Centre. The event was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Peachtree City and was started to give high school students the opportunity to learn about leadership in an informal setting here in Fayette County.

The PTC Rotary Club partnered with local a charity, AVPride, to provide an afternoon and evening of exposure to many topics from volunteering to “What a Leader is Not” to legal leadership and race relations. Rotarian Adam Glendye coordinated the event.

The event began with a welcome to Pinewood Production Centre from executive vice president Brian Cooper and culminated with keynote speaker Michael Dixon from Art Institute of Atlanta giving a message of overcoming obstacles and leadership.

More than 50 students attended the program from each of the five public high schools in Fayette County and Counterpane High School.

The summit was the culmination of discussions between Chris Boehm, the Young Generations Chair of the Rotary Club of Peachtree City, and Cyndi Plunkett, Membership Chair, to encourage cooperation and friendship between Fayette’s high schools.

Rotarians Judge Jason Thompson, Diana Roman, Patti Kadkhodian and Russ Heil all spoke at the event. The attendees were challenged to think outside the box and see what areas in their lives they can take on leadership roles.

The Rotary Club of Peachtree City plans to operate the program yearly and will publish information prior to the 2016 event to high school and middle school counselors and Interact coordinators.