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This Sunday saw the kick-off to this year’s First Port City Bank Youth Leadership class. Thirty students from 10th and 11th grade from schools across the county showed up, including Bainbridge High School, Grace Christian Academy, Spring Creek Charter Academy, and even a homeschool student. According to Chamber president Karen Tobin, this year’s class is the biggest yet.

“It has grown, specifically since COVID,” she said. “This is the first time that we have representation from all schools.”

Students will participate in monthly sessions throughout the school year, with special class activities including the Amazing Shake, as well as a field trip to Chic-Fil-A’s corporate office in Atlanta. The kick-off saw students put into groups, doing basic intro activities like the name game and personality tests. The next session is scheduled for September 18.

“Every year, you can never gauge the kids until you meet them,” Tobin said, “how that class is going to connect, what the dynamics of it is going to be.” She continued, speaking about the kick-off event, “So one of the activities that we did with them was personality tests, and it was just fascinating to watch the dynamics, because of their personalities and traits. We had four different groups, and it was very true to their personalities. Every year brings on new challenges and new personalities, so it’s very interesting to see where they’re going to be a few years from now.”