Elevate For Tomorrow Conference
Guest speaker, Kevin Scott, giving informational speech to group of High School Students.
High schools from around the around the county attended Elevate for Tomorrow, a conference directed towards high school juniors to learn about life outside of high school and opportunities in the future. Majority of juniors from Combs went to attend the convention at Queen Creek High School.
The conference, sponsored by local Chick-fil-A, featured many guest speakers including Kevin Scott and Andre Kennebrew of the Chick-fil-A leadership academy. The event started with a few words from local Chick-fil-A owner, Jason Purvis, proceeded by Scott with the opening speech.
“The one thing I will remember is the stories Mr. Scott told us,” junior Rebecka Roggenstein said. “They were very imaginative and creative and they helped really paint a picture.”
Scott started the speech with a fake story about a man getting his kidney stolen, and led into several different exchanges that need to be made in order to be successful.
“I’ll most likely remember the guest speaker that we had in the opening. Just learning about certain exchanges we have to make in life such as exchanging fans for friends,” junior Evelyn Suarez said. “Especially now with growing popularity and how important it is to focus on the people that truly care about you.”
Following the presentation, students were led into the main gym for the next presentation. Kennebrew energized the crowd with the help of a few cheerleaders and discussed ways to perfect interviewing skills. On top of that, he empowered his audience through different examples of situations one can improve themselves in.
One topic touched on was fights in school. Kennebrew called on students and asked whether or not students had stood up and stopped the fight.
“The one thing I’ll remember is this guy [Kennebrew] holding on to me and talking about how leaders can stop things even if they don’t think they have the power to,” junior Clayton Smith said. “It really hit home, I thought it was really cool.”
Students were then led into the auxiliary gym, there were multiple vendors offering advice on colleges and different businesses that hire in the valley.
“My favorite part was getting to see all the vendors,” Suarez said. “And learning more about free college and institutions”
The convention ended with Scott giving the closing speech, showing off his magic skills, and a short gift giving ceremony in exchange for feedback.
