Allison Cox

Today’s program was presented by Allison Cox.  Allison is a junior at Thornton Academy and works at Saco Parks & Rec Center after school program and also summer camp.  She plays tennis for a spring sport and loves horseback riding; Allison owns her own horses and rides during all of her free time as well as competes during the summer.  Allison loves to volunteer.  She teaches an autistic boy how to ride and takes him to the Special Olympics every year.  She was also a part of Big Brothers Big Sisters her freshman year.  Allison loves science and would like to be a veterinarian after college.

 

Allison came to speak to the club about the Maine Youth Leadership Program.

 

The Maine Youth Leadership Program (MLY) has been around for approximately 36 years.  The board is entirely made up of volunteers.  The 4 day seminar is held at USM on the Gorham campus.  It begins on Thursday morning through late Sunday afternoon the last week of May.

 

104+ public and private high schools are invited to send one sophomore to this seminar each year.  Guidance counselors at the schools nominate students to participate.  The organization pays for at least one student from each high school. Many schools will opt to send a second person.  This is paid for by individual sponsors or donations from clubs such as ours.

 

The most amazing part of the week for Allison was the people she met.  The things she learned and the friendships made will last her a lifetime.  The theme of the weekend Allison went to was “No Judgment.”

 

Speakers come to do presentations for the students.  Allison’s favorite speaker was Bill Pickard.  They spend 4 hours volunteering at a local non-profit and are asked to put in 100 volunteer hours to the local community when they get home.  The students can return their following years as juniors and/or seniors as Ambassadors.  Not everyone can get in – there is a selection process that takes place including writing an essay.

 

Students who are fortunate to participate with this Maine Youth Leadership Program are asked to go back to their schools and share the information they learned with the rest of the student body.

 

Thank you Allison for coming to share your amazing experience with our club!