On Sunday, September 9, Plano Youth Leadership (PYL) welcomed its 2007-2008 class with an orientation session at Prestonwood Country Club The Hills.   The PYL program, now in its thirteenth year, trains tenth grade students in leadership techniques and community awareness so that they can become familiar with current issues, community resources, opportunities, and other factors influencing the direction of Planos future. 

Each year, PYL participants are selected from a extensive group of applicants.  The 2007-2008 class (Class XIII) includes students from public and private schools in the area served by Plano ISD, including Jasper, Shepton, Clark, Vines, and Williams high schools, as well as GreenhillSchool, JesuitCollegePreparatory School, UrsulineAcademy, PrestonwoodChristianAcademy, and JohnPaulIIHigh School. According to PYL Board president, Ann Boswell, This is an exciting year for PYL because we have our largest, most diverse class ever 36 students from 10 different schools. 

The orientation session began with Boswell introducing this years class, followed by previews of the upcoming class sessions, presented by PYL Board members.  Will Smith, PYL Board member, described how the class will be using the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey in conjunction with their classes throughout the year.  This was followed by an interactive presentation by Professional Leadership Trainer Karen Henning, who led the students through an exercise designed to help them identify their leadership styles and how these styles affect their interactions with other people.  The evening ended with a wrap up by Board president Boswell.

PYL Class XIII is comprised of the following students: Yasmin Bata, Haley Bilbray, Kathryn Boswell, Brian Brown, Nick Brush, Michael Buss, Wil Callison, Amanda Chavez, Alan Chen, Jaclyn Coleman, Anayeli Espinoza, Jordan Francis, Brittany Gajdica, Nick Goodhartz, Justin Graver, Sam Iacoponelli, Stacie Jackson, Ryan Johnson, Sahil Khetpal, Chase La Due, Jasmine Lofton, Molly Lyons, Ben ONeill, Yazmine Ordaz, Kevin Pellicone, Tommy Pigeon, Mukul Ramakrishman, Annie Ramirez, Mike Schrob, Natalie Shanklin, R.J. Shannon, Suhith Shivani, Livia Soong, Jourdan Spragins, Stephanie Yarbrough, and Linda Ye.

For more information about Plano Youth Leadership, visit  www.planoyouthleadership.org.