Home » Minden High students, community leaders participate in Gatti leadership conference

Minden High students, community leaders participate in Gatti leadership conference

by Minden Press-Herald

Stacey Tinsley
Bossier Press-Tribune

State Sen. Ryan Gatti brought together local students and community leaders to discuss and inspire success with a special conference Thursday.

“I thought it was my job as your State Senator to put people in front of you that you can be your role model, people in front of you who can show you what success is, “ said Gatti.

Sen. Gatti gathered more then 100 student leaders from local and surrounding parish schools, including Bossier and Webster, to discuss leadership skills and what business owners look for when they are hiring for their company.
Adriana Howard of Benton High School said, “It was pretty amazing, it’s something new and interesting for young leaders like us. I learned how to express myself and what it takes to be a leader.”

Six speakers shared their knowledge of what it takes to excel in leading others. These included District 26 Judge Parker Self, Principal of BPSTIL Jayda Spillers, Reiser Group Partner Paul Reiser, Bossier City restauranteur John Roden, and other business owners.

“The principles of leadership never change. If you guys work on leadership, in a few years when you start your careers, you start your own business, you’re going to have a skill that is very very valuable. Because everyone I know that owns businesses, they are all looking for leaders,” said Reiser.

“I was not college bound right out of high school. I didn’t have any guidance or direction. My foundation was I had to learn how to follow before I could lead,” said Roden. “You’ve got to put customers first. You have to work together. You’ve got to continuously improve.”

Gatti worked with school principals and counselors to select students they thought had leadership qualities, leaders with character and would benefit attending the special event.

“During this time in High School, you’re going to make a lot of choices. And those choices are either going to be magic or tragic. We want to put you in front of people that you can ask questions to and speak to and get to know. So you can kinda have a better path or better knowledge of where you want to be and what you want to be,” said Gatti.

This is the second Student Leadership Conference hosted by Senator Ryan Gatti. His first conference was held earlier this year in February.

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