Disability Network May 2010 Newsletter

Area Students Participate in Michigan Youth Leadership Forum

The Michigan Youth Leadership Forum (MYLF) gives high school juniors and seniors who have disabilities a unique opportunity to develop their leadership, citizenship and social skills. The MYLF activities give participating students an opportunity to turn their disabilities into strengths. By providing a framework of disability history and an atmosphere of encouragement, MYLF offers peers with common challenges and experiences the opportunity to learn from one another and to realize that they are the people who determine their limits. They learn that they can rise above the apparent limits set by their disabilities.

Students with disabilities and leadership potential who wanted to take part in this free opportunity entered a statewide competition. Participants were selected based on their submitted essays. The group chosen represented the state in terms of geography, gender, ethnicity and types of disabilities.

This year, two students from our community had the opportunity to be part of this five-day event at the State Capitol. Otto Guild, a member of the Dow High Class of 2012, was surprised that he was accepted for the leadership forum. He read the ADA and wrote a paper about it as part of his application process. He was not at all confident that he would be able to be part of the summer event. "When my mom said she heard from them I thought that they had rejected me but she told me that I was accepted. I was excited," said Otto. Katie Waters, a member of the Dow High Class of 2011, applied with confidence but was happy to hear that she would be participating in the program this year.

Otto and Katie were able to socialize with other potential leaders, learn about job interview etiquette, and work together with the other students to create a bill to submit to the State Legislature. Otto came up with the name of this year's bill - The Teachers' Disability Awareness Act. He and Katie also were able to participate in other ways to help get the bill passed by the legislature. All the students engaged in a role-playing activity at the Capital; some students were assigned to be lobbyists, some to provide expert testimony regarding the proposed bill, others to debate the bill with state legislature members, etc. Otto and Katie were testifiers. As a result of the hard work of all the students, the bill passed.

Otto said the best part of the event for him was seeing and hearing the motivational speakers. Listening to Jim "Basketball" Jones and participating in other activities were great. Although Otto isn't sure about what he'll do after high school - he's considering going into music or counseling at this point - he said that participating in the MYLF program has made him feel more confident about his future.

Katie is considering participating in MYLF again next year as a Program Assistant. When asked how the experience has changed her, Katie said, "I feel more open about my disability now, more confident."