WEIRTON — The Weirton Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated the accomplishments of the newest group of the area’s young leaders, Sunday, holding a graduation luncheon for the 2023-24 Class of Youth Leadership Weirton.

“Our goal is to have something they will enjoy while learning something they can take with them,” noted Brenda Mull, president of the Weirton Chamber in explaining the program which has been offered for more than 20 years.

Each year, 30 sophomores from Weir, Madonna, Brooke and Oak Glen high schools are selected to participate in the program, which features a series of monthly sessions focused on providing skills to assist them for the remainder of their school years and when they enter the workforce. Each class is formed through a blind selection process reviewing each applicant’s grade point average, standing in their school and an essay.

Programs included True Colors, which teaches about personalities and how they may compare or contrast; Teamwork, where students were split into teams to both work together and compete in a cooking contest with the assistance of Blue Stream Farms and Birch Creek Farmery; Vision which discussed goal setting and Integrity focusing on ethics; and a Simulated Society exercise.

“It gave them a taste of the business world and issues they may face,” Mull said.

This year’s class of Youth Leadership Weirton included:

Brooke High School: Kendra Boyd, Maya Kusic, Issac Lanigan, Cooper McMahon, Morgan McMahon, Aiden Provenzano, Emma Riggs, and Sophia Tomes;

Madonna High School: Ethan Baker, Rylee Birkhimer, Alexis Bracken, Sam Brooks, Rosa Cody, Jacob Lazear, Alayna Szczerbinski, and Grant Upright;

Oak Glen High School: Maddox McKay, Cameron Michaud, Ella Paras, Sarah Robinson, Emma Stansbury, Rylee Swartzmiller, and Gabby Watkins;

Weir High School: Brynn Artman, Kaely Engle, Brayley Lash, Paden Pernell, Dacodah Roche, and Olivia Shetler.

Carole Scheerbaum, of the Lee Day Report Center, who also assisted with aspects of the program, noted the students often are put in groups with students from other schools, and spent some time Sunday encouraging them to share some of their experiences.

They discussed the meals they made during the Teamwork session, the importance of communication, and the need to work together.

Mull reminded the students there is something about each of them which makes them stand out as a leader.

“We all have some leadership qualities,” Mull said. “We may just not realize that we do.”

She encouraged the class to remember what they learned through the program and put it toward their future.