Eleventh grade members of Westfield High School’s Dream Team Club attended a recent weekend peer leadership conference, participating in several leadership activities and hearing from a variety of speakers with motivational messages to share.
The Dream Team is a school club that encourages students to make healthy decisions and provides drug/alcohol free social events to the school community.
Among the inspiring speakers at the Annual New Jersey State Elks Peer Leadership Conference held in Long Branch, New Jersey, on Feb. 2 to 4, 2018 was Albert Mensah who worked his way from a mud hut in an impoverished part of Ghana to the world stage. Mensah says, in addressing young people and in life in general, the words and concepts he uses most frequently are dreams, success, change, fear, communication, passion, enthusiasm and, most importantly, opportunity.
The group also heard from Hawthorne High School assistant principal Craig Jandoli who spoke of his own difficult upbringing and the importance of a positive attitude, telling the students that “attitude is a choice” and “to maintain a positive outlook and believe in yourself.”
“The students really enjoyed the entire experience,” says club advisor Lauren Hauser, a physical education/health teacher at WHS who attended the three-day conference with the 11th graders. “They learned that people come from all walks of life and can be successful, even when the odds
(above, back row, left-right) Nicholas Chermak, Evan Meade, Jaimie DeDea, Steven Zucker, Luke Ertman, Sophia Pappalardo. (front row, left to right) Ellie Curry, club advisor Lauren Hauser, Anna Rossen.
Photo courtesy of Westfield Public Schools.
