The Edmond Area Chamber of Commerce kicked off its Youth Leadership Edmond program this month with a retreat for the selected students at the chamber building. A total of 42 juniors from the three Edmond public high schools, Heritage Hall and Bishop McGuinness High School were accepted into Youth Leadership Edmond Class V. All high school juniors, including both public and private school students residing in Edmond school district and/or Edmond city limits, were eligible to apply to the program.

“The Opening Retreat exposed the students to team building and problem solving activities, leadership style development, and personal leadership skills evaluation,” said Hollye Laymon, vice president of operations and Youth Leadership Edmond program director.

Youth Leadership Edmond provides an opportunity for high school juniors to meet with Edmond business and community leaders to identify and discuss community issues, develop leadership skills and explore career opportunities. The Youth Leadership Edmond program consists of six sessions running November to April, concluding with an evening graduation in April. Each day session is an excused absence from school with full credit. The six sessions are: Opening Retreat, Business & Industry, Municipal Government, Health Care, Quality of Life and State Government Day. Students will also be given the opportunity to participate in the Mayor's Youth Council Program and may elect to visit Tinker Air Force Base with the Chamber's adult Leadership Edmond Class.

The Youth Leadership Edmond program is sponsored by the University of Central Oklahoma.

Session sponsors include the Arvest Bank, Francis Tuttle Technology Center, Citizens Bank of Edmond, Edmond Medical Center, Edmond Electric, Oklahoma Christian University, YourNextSpeaker, Adfitech, CGI, MIDCON Data Services, LLC & kerr 3 design group inc.

The selection process for Youth Leadership Edmond is done by application screening and an interview process. Selection for Youth Leadership Edmond Class VI will begin in September, 2006. For more information about the program, contact Hollye Laymon at the Edmond Chamber, 341-2808, or logon to www.edmondchamber.com.

The Youth Leadership Edmond Class V class members are the following:

Michael Allen, Edmond North High School

Mikki Allen, Edmond Memorial High School

Christina Ballard, Edmond Memorial High School

Chenoa Barker, Edmond North High School

Kristen Blundell, Edmond North High School

Ryan Brasses, Bishop McGuinness

Derek Case, Edmond North High School

Emily Cole, Edmond North High School

Trey Cole                    Edmond North High School

Maggie Courtney         Edmond North High School

Addison Durrett            Edmond Santa Fe High School

Lauren Faris                Edmond Santa Fe High School

D’Andre Fisher            Edmond Santa Fe High School

Jason Garrett               Edmond Memorial High School

Kaydee Gibson            Edmond Santa Fe High School

Leah Guskin                Heritage Hall

Ashley Hesser             Edmond Memorial High School

Rebecca Hopkins         Edmond North High School

Sean Hughes               Edmond North High School

Megan Hulshizer          Edmond North High School

Brian Kibbe                 Edmond Santa Fe High School

Rachael Kunkel            Edmond Memorial High School

Carter Labarthe           Bishop McGuinness

Jonathan MacDurmon  Edmond North High School

Courtney Mills              Edmond North High School

Maggie Murdock          Edmond Memorial High School

Andrew Negley            Edmond Memorial High School

Sissi Nie                      Edmond Santa Fe High School

Katie O'Neil                  Edmond Memorial High School

Evan Ottaviani              Bishop McGuiness

Adam Saylor                Edmond North High School

Sam Scharff                Edmond Memorial High School

Tim Shoopman             Edmond Memorial High School

Ryan Smith                  Edmond Santa Fe High School

Nevine Tabbara            Edmond Santa Fe High School

Venus Tahmasebi        Edmond Santa Fe High School

Heather Taylor             Edmond Memorial High School

Lauren Tipton              Edmond North High School

Clay Vaughan              Bishop McGuiness

Eric Weinmeister         Edmond Memorial High School

Chelsea Wingfield        Edmond Memorial High School

Emily Yowell                Edmond Memorial High School