Club sign up day has come and gone, and for most Academy freshmen it was a stressful scramble to get their first choice of the many AHN clubs. However, ten select freshmen found the club registry to be a care-free experience because they already had been accepted into one of the oldest clubs in the school.

Teen Leadership Council, or TLC, is a peer mentoring gold club that focuses on leading young men and women to act with integrity, pride, and respect. Each year, roughly fifty new freshmen courageously come forward and send in an application; each year, the applicants are narrowed down to ten. The club’s own moderator, Mrs. Debbie Lubrano, states “Teen Leadership Council members are young ladies who  are  recognized as leaders, positive role models and students of character. The selection process is purposely lengthy and intense due to wanting to pick the best freshmen.”

With that being said, congratulations to this year’s newest members of TLC!

These girls made it through a challenging, three-part application–an essay, an interview, and a mock peer mentoring circle. Lubrano and a team of TLC recruitment members met day after day for three weeks and were very thorough with their final selection. Vice President of TLC and Head of Recruitment Gabby Accardi says “We look for girls who are going to be future leaders of their class–girls who are strong, confident, and welcoming to all people…We spend many weeks planning and deliberating who gets into the club, and we talk to teachers, students, and other faculty members to help us seek out the leaders.”

Since TLC knows what they’re looking for before the applications come rolling in, choosing the young ladies should be a piece of cake, right?! Wrong. Lizzie Dolan, a junior member of the club, confesses, “it was super difficult! It is really hard to tell sometimes from an essay the personalities of the freshmen, so we really look for people who can share personal stories and are truly themselves. Once we meet them, it gets even harder because usually they are all pretty awesome!”

If what Dolan says is true, then what set the selected ten young women apart from the others?

Dolan finds the key to their success to be their enthusiasm and their ability to relate well with younger people. “I saw a lot of girls who are extremely passionate about what they love, whether it be sports, their family, etc…I think the middle schoolers are going to be really able to connect with [them],” Dolan claims. Because TLC is all about mentoring the youth, it is imperative that all members have a sense of how middle school boys and girls, and even high school underclassmen, act in their daily life. The girls selected proved to us that they were approachable and respectable. Teen Leadership Council President Christina Thompson explains “The girls we picked are strong leaders who are not afraid to voice their opinions. I can not wait to see how they shine within the club!”

All members of the TLC family seem to be in agreement with Thompson; the new young ladies were officially welcomed with breakfast and roses on September 11, 2015

https://twitter.com/AHNTLC/status/642298074786852864/photo/1

Congratulations once more to the new members of this club, we are excited to see how you lead on throughout your next four years at Academy!

Note: Myah Rhines and Madison Urso (not pictured) are also new TLC members.