What is the GOLD Youth Leadership Seminar?

The GOLD Seminar is a regional youth leadership program which covers the area of Central and South Texas. The seminar area includes 360 schools. Targeted toward sophomore students, the program is designed to provide a setting of education and motivation for sophomores who have exhibited leadership qualities.

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The students who attend the program are called “Delegates”. They are targeted their sophomore year to allow them the opportunity to return to their local communities and contribute.

Approximately 300 outstanding high school sophomores, each representing a different high school throughout Central and South Texas, travel to San Antonio for a week-end in an educational environment that teaches, through discussions and demonstrations, a variety of subjects. Included are those relating to profit, economics, business, self-improvement, motivation, and leadership skills. Discussions and presentations center on our free enterprise economic system which motivates productive activity in our society. The emphasis is on motivating the participants to make a positive contribution in their school and community, to encourage and develop a desire for volunteerism, and to be aware, active, and responsible citizens.

All committee members and seminar staff are volunteers giving their time to develop the leadership qualities of the attending sophomores. Many are former participants in the program that want to give back to the Seminar their time and talents to help make the seminar weekend a memorable one.

Primary financial support is provided by Optimist, Kiwanis, and General Federation of Woman’s Clubs. Community support is given by businesses in the form of financial contributions and gifts-in-kind

How are students selected to participate in the Seminar?

All high school sophomores are eligible. During the fall, nomination packets of information are sent to all public and private high schools in the Seminar’s participation area of Central and South Texas. Each school selects ONE sophomore nominee (boy or girl). The principal then submits the nomination to the GOLD recruitment committee. The student nomination process is determined by each individual school. There is no cost to the student or school, except travel to and from the Seminar site.

Sophomore students are selected to participate because of two primary reasons. First, sophomores are open to new ideas and are looking for direction. They are beginning to make vital decisions about their place in society and are, therefore, eager for more exposure to the “real world” outside the classroom. Second, after their exposure to the GOLD Seminar, the students have two years remaining with high school classmates to utilize and apply the leadership qualities they have sharpened and refined through the Seminar experience.