Students Attend 2018 Quaker Youth Leadership Conference

On Thursday, February 1, seven Tandem Friends School students (four juniors and three seniors) and two faculty advisors headed to Durham, NC for the 19th annual Quaker Youth Leadership Conference (QYLC), a gathering of students and teachers from Quaker secondary schools across the world. QYLC serves to embolden the Quaker values in young leaders and encourages them to work collaboratively and with intent to solve the world's social, political, and environmental issues. Since 1999, QYLC has been guided by a contemporary theme and hosted by a different Quaker school. This year's gathering is being held at Carolina Friends School, with help from nearby New Garden Friends School. The theme is Growing Communities through Service and Storytelling.
The three-day gathering exposes students to meaningful theme-based workshops and discussions, local community service, and activities centered on history and culture. This year's keynote speaker is Pierce Freelon, a political presence in Durham who ran for Mayor in 2017 and City Council. In addition to being a prevalent voice in the community and local politics, Pierce is an entrepreneur who founded a cooperative called Blackspace to help Durhamites of color learn about music, code and film. Pierce is a local musician and the lead singer in The Beast, a Durham Hip Hop band which will be performing for the students after his speech.

This year's attendees included seniors Julia Calland, Tori Carter-Johnston, and Kira Lipson (senior Evelyn Brown was scheduled to go and was unable to attend at the last minute), and juniors Maya Goldstein, Emma Johnson, Jess Snelling, and Conor Shillue. Steve Ganong and Amanda Evans went as chaperones.
 
Tandem Friends has hosted QYLC twice in the last twelve years, and sends interested Upper School students to the conference each year. They return fueled with new ideas, a passion for evoking change, and new Quaker school friendships from around the world. It's a wonderful experience for all involved and our community always looks forward to learning from our QYLC attendees upon their return on February 3.
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Tandem Friends School is a co-ed Quaker day school for grades 5-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
 
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