Brentwood School Sends Youth to Harvard Leadership Summit
For Ben Tarbutton, IV, summer wasn’t only about going to the beach. Although Ben had a great summer vacation, he can now check some “firsts” off of his long list of things to do in his young life.
Brentwood School sent Ben as the school’s representative as an Ambassador Leader to attend a Summit which was held at Harvard in Boston. The “firsts”..Ben’s first flight alone to a distant place. This was also Ben’s first Summit. When asked if his flight went well and according to plan, Ben smiled and replied, “Yes, but I was nervous. I got off of the plane and was looking for the people that were to pick me up. I had no trouble knowing that I was in Boston! The two ladies that drove me from the airport were curious about where I was from too. It was pretty obvious I wasn’t from the north.”
Once Ben got to Harvard where he stayed on campus for the six days, he met students in middle and high school from all over the United States. Here, students take classes focusing on leadership, world citizenship, and service learning. These Ambassador Summits take place on various prestigious university campuses like Harvard’s. With students coming from as many as 140 countries, the Summits are a melting pot of cultures, ideas, and global perspectives, providing challenges and opportunities that Ben’s generation will face.
The groups from which Ben met and worked were from all over the country. When asked what he learned most from this trip, he replied, “I learned how to work with different people who had many different interests and came from all sorts of backgrounds. Where we live here in Sandersville, many of us like to play sports, hunt and/or fish…you know, do something outdoors. Some kids don’t have that choice or have more options that we don’t like play violin or speak a foreign language. One guy spoke Russian.”
Ben took a class called, “Seven Habits of a Highly Effective Team” while visiting and using these skills, these teens were divided into groups and asked to put together presentations. Students gathered their ideas together and presented them at the end of the week. Their group spoke on Education and Ben’s piece was about Non- Profit Organizations.
This group didn’t stay in a classroom the entire week, either! Students were taken around Boston to certain campground areas in need of cleaning. Logs and debris were moved to appropriate sites and trash in bins. Students enjoyed seeing the sights of Boston during the week, as well! What an experience!
Brentwood congratulates Ben and looks forward to more summer opportunities!
