Sara Treece and Kylee Redman, sophomores at Henry County High School, have received the Hugh O’Brian Youth (HOBY) Leadership Award.
“I was shocked. I wasn’t sure what it was at first,” said Redman. “As I looked more into it, I realized this is a really good opportunity.”
Jason Banta, a school counselor at Henry County High School, said the award was well deserved.
“I’m proud of them and I’ll speak for our entire staff, they’re all very proud of them,” said Banta.
The award is near and dear to Banta as he was a recipient himself when he attended Henry County High School.
“Those programs helped me create leadership skills that I use every day now with our next group of students,” said Banta.
HOBY was founded by Hugh O’Brian in 1958 as a non-profit organization to inspire a community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service and innovation.
Both Treece and Redman are leaders in their school and community: Redman is one of the officers in the school’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) program and Treece is one of the managers on the school’s football team.
The program invites selected high school sophomores to a seminar each spring and summer.
Redman and Treece will join other students and serve as ambassadors and participate in workshops to develop their leadership skills and values.
“I’ve always wanted to look at opportunities that I could take to expand my education,” said Treece. “I figured that this would be cool to do.”
Both Redman and Treece say they are excited to meet other students their age and learn new skills.
“I think it’s going to give us those important next steps that we need because I mean that’s what high school’s about, preparing us for future steps and future careers and relationships,” Redman said.
Lindsey Davie, an agriculture teacher at Henry County High School, and Courtney Willis, a Spanish teacher at Henry County High School, both had Treece and Redman in their classes.
“They’re always willing to step it up and be that first example or first person if they need to,” said Davie.
Both teachers say they are blown away by how much the two students have grown over the last two years and are excited to see what they have in store over the next few years.
“It gives me hope that excellence and leadership is something that we need to be pursuing,” said Willis. “What they are going to be doing in their junior and senior year and after that gives me a lot of hope as an educator.”
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