By Hannah Lilienthal

Nearly 200 high school students will attend the Fall 2012 Young Leaders in Action conference at Wartburg College Tuesday, Oct. 23.

The conference — a collaborative effort among, Wartburg College, the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley, the Community Foundation of Waterloo-Cedar Falls and Cedar Valley’s Promise — aims to give students necessary tools to succeed as leaders through a series of seminars and high-energy activities.

Todd Coleman, assistant vice president for admissions, helped coordinated the event.

“It’s just natural that Wartburg College, with our emphasis on leadership and service, would partner with an organization that promotes leadership,” Coleman said. “We’re excited to have 200 young leaders on campus for the day.”

One new facet of the conference is a service requirement.

Renee Sedlacek, Wartburg’s service-learning coordinator, along with Jean Seeland from the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley, have arranged nine one-hour service projects involving Northeast Iowa Food Bank, Cedar Valley Friends of the Family, Waverly Health Center, Country View Nursing Home, University of Northern Iowa, Pathways, Grout Museum and Together for Youth (Allen Women’s Health).

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Dan Kittle, director of Wartburg’s Center for Community Engagement.  

Wartburg leadership certificate students also will participate in the conference. Students from a leadership theories and practice class will lead morning workshops, service projects and talk to students during the afternoon portion of the conference.

“It’s just another great opportunity to translate what they are learning in the classroom to a real life situation,” Coleman said.

More information about the Young Leaders in Action Conference and the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley can be found at http://www.vccv.org .