Leadership Texarkana Accepting Applications For Today’s Youth, Tomorrow’s Leaders

It’s time for high school students to apply for Leadership Texarkana’s summer leadership program, Today’s Youth–Tomorrow’s Leaders (TYTL).  The purpose of Today's Youth Tomorrow's Leaders is to start young to engage and equip high-school-aged leaders from throughout the community in working together for community excellence, pride and progress.   

To that end, LT annually offers the Today’s Youth, Tomorrow’s Leaders program, which provides a community-based leadership curriculum for a limited number of selected youth from area high schools, at no charge to the students.

TYTL Partners with Leadership Texarkana include Liberty-Eylau ISD, Pleasant Grove ISD, Texarkana ISD, Texarkana Arkansas School District, each of which provides a portion of the funding for this leadership opportunity for area youth; Leadership Texarkana funds cover the remaining fifty percent of program expense.

The program will be held from June 19 to June 22 this summer, with day-long sessions at which attendance and participation is expected.   Students must have the completed application and signed permission from their parent/guardian and principal submitted to their school office by February 14 to participate.

Students in grades 10th and 11th are invited to apply; applications are now available on each county campus from campus liaisons, individuals designated as TYTL Campus Leaders. Applications are reviewed in February and program invitations are sent by early March.

Students in area schools beyond the four city partner districts are also eligible to apply. The goal is equivalent numbers of participants from each of the four city districts (a limit of eight per campus), with a limit of an additional eight collectively from outlying districts. The class sizes vary annually based on numbers of applicants and the goal of equivalent sized groups.

The final session day includes a culminating celebratory reception for graduates and up to two guests for each student involved. Students who successfully complete the program earn cords to wear at their high school commencement exercises.

Program facilitators for 2017 are TASD’s Theresa Cowling (LT Class of 2015) and TISD’s Wes Kirkham (LT Class of 2014); TYTL Board Chair is LEISD’s Amy Roberts (LT Class of 2016).

Begun by Leadership Texarkana in 1995, this will be the twenty-second class of TYTL.