MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Vinemont resident Emylee Cooper recently participated in the 21st annual Alabama Governor’s Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) on the campus of Troy University.
The five-day event – sponsored by the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services – seeks to equip high school students with disabilities with valuable leadership skills through sessions on self-esteem, career exploration, technology, independent living and etiquette.
As part of the camp, the participants travel to Montgomery to meet state leaders. That trip also includes a tour of the Capitol and a mentor luncheon, where delegates interact with and receive advice from successful adults with disabilities.
YLF delegates are chosen through a statewide search for students displaying leadership potential. Those selected represent the state’s demographics in terms of geography, gender, ethnicity and type of disability. To be eligible, an individual must be a high school junior or senior with a disability who is between 17 and 21 years old.
Other sponsors of this year’s YLF included the Alabama Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, the Alabama Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Troy University.
