NSU Educational Talent Search hosts leadership summit

The Northeastern State University Educational Talent Search TRIO program brought 26 area high school students to campus for a two-day event June 6-7.

The event, The Learning and Leadership Summit: The Road to the Final Score! aimed to enhance student leadership skills, and allowed students to gather information about college scholarship opportunities, campus involvement and ACT preparation.

The Learning and Leadership Summit has a huge impact on high school students, said Diane Walker, director of NSU Educational Talent Search. They not only learn and understand how to build a competitive high school resume, but they also get the inside track on what it will take to be successful in college.

Students from Chouteau, Coweta, Hilldale, Inola, Jay, Kansas, Ketchum, Tahlequah and Wagoner high schools participated in the retreat held on the NSU campus and at the Thunderbird Lodge at Arrowhead Resort outside Tahlequah.

Those attending received a series of lectures and motivational speeches, leadership and team building challenges and took part in a campus scavenger hunt. They were informed of methods to pay for college, specifically through Oklahoma's Promise, a higher learning access program for 8th-, 9th- and 10th-graders established by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

Attendees also met NSU students in the President's Leadership Class Scholarship program and former ETS participants.

The Learning and Leadership Summit provides an opportunity for these outstanding high school sophomores to develop their leadership skills, diversify their high school experiences and ultimately help them become better prepared for college, said Ryan Eller, educational talent search counselor.

The Educational Talent Search program held the first Learning and Leadership Summit in 2004 to improve students' high school grade-point averages, ACT scores and competitiveness for academic and leadership scholarships by informing them of available opportunities.

A parent session was included for the first time in the 2011 summit. Walker shared information with parents about Oklahoma's Promise, college entrance requirements and costs, ACT preparation and student services offered through the ETS program.

Following the parent session, the summit concluded with an awards dinner and slide show for students and parents.

The NSU Educational Talent Search program is serving 600 students from 10 area middle and high schools. ETS provides college and career counseling and helps students recognize their strengths through educational, cultural and adventure activities. The NSU-ETS program is a federally-funded TRIO program through the United States Department of Education.