By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HOOVER–Students from schools across all of Shelby County and more gathered at Valleydale Church on Thursday, Sept. 24, for the third annual Shelby County Student Leadership Conference.

The conference has expanded each year as the first year of the conference served students from just the Shelby County School District. Year two expanded to include students from Alabaster, Hoover and Pelham City School Districts and this year the conference expanded once again to include all private and home school organizations in Shelby County.

The day included break out-group sessions both in big and small groups.

Mandy Kelly, a graduate of Oak Mountain High School and current Auburn University student, has attended the conference the past three years each as a student, small group leader and this year as a coordinator. Kelly believes it gives students a great opportunity to learn about leadership.

“I think the best thing is that there’s just so many students and it’s so cool to see them all come together for a day and just make new friends and to live and learn about leadership,” said Kelly. “I think you get a lot out of this, but you get as much out of it as you put into it. So if they invest in today, then they’ll get a lot more out of it.”

Most of the students chosen for the conference participate in their school’s SGA program or are chosen by teachers who exhibit leadership skills.

College students from the University of Montevallo, University of Alabama, Auburn University, Troy and more come to lead small groups. There’s typically a leader and co-leader and the things they learn in the small groups coordinate back to what is discussed in the big groups.

In the big group session, students had the opportunity to hear from Randy Gravitt, a leadership consultant for the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball organization, Chick-Fil-A, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

In one of the sessions, Gravitt made it a point that students should never follow the status quo, and instead follow their dreams and inspirations.

“The status quo will wreck your soul,” said Gravitt. “Listen to me, you do not want to live a life where you just go through the motions. Don’t let somebody stand up on the rail of your life and look at you and say ‘you shouldn’t do that, or you can’t be that.’”

In addition to Gravitt, students also heard from several special guests, including University of Montevallo President Dr. John Stewart and Shelby Schools Superintendent Randy Fuller.