In September, the Board of Directors welcomed Plano Youth Leadership Class 16 for 2010-2011.  Plano Youth Leadership is comprised of 35 sophomores who live within the Plano ISD boundaries and who attend 13 different public and private schools throughout the area.  The class members applied at the end of their freshman year.  Over 400 students have graduated from the program in the last fifteen years, including current student advisor Amy Chyao, who was recently honored by President Barack Obama in the first-ever White House Science fair for her photosynthesized development in photodynamic therapy. 

The 2010-2011 PYL Class includes: Marisa Anz, Lainey Borgsmiller, Savannah Borgsmiller Meredith Brown, Kennedy Burns, Achyuta Burra, Abby Callison, Sheila Chandrahas, Sydney Choucair, J.J. Coleman, Trey Curran, Jourdan Escobar, Brooke Gajdica, Jessica Giradon, Allie Heselton, Megan Hoenig, Nikolai Horbovetz, Michael Hwang, Ally Jones, Braden Keeter, Hayden Lewis, Tushar Madan, Nathan Mathai, Jenna Mitchell, Carly Morrison, Taylor Nash, Chad O'Reilly, Paul Paris, Arely Pedroza, Ryan Pigeon, Shravan Shaastri, Chance Shah, Lauren Sheldon, Sarah Taff, Hunter White.

During the opening session at BaylorRegionalMedicalCenter at Plano, class members and their parents were given an overview of Plano Youth Leadership based on its mission statement “Learning today.  Leading tomorrow.”  Class members also discovered their own personality and leadership styles.

Class 16 will meet monthly at various locations throughout Plano to learn about leadership techniques, community resources and future leadership opportunities.  The next session will meet in October for the Teamwork Challenge.  The activities will promote trust and team spirit among the new Plano Youth Leadership Class.  For more information regarding Plano Youth Leadership, please visit planoyouthleadership.org.