Mississippi Leaders of Tomorrow Travel to UM Campus for Conferences, Academic Competition

March 2009

Oxford, Miss. –– More than 800 high school students–the academic and community leaders of tomorrow–will visit the Ole Miss campus this Saturday to participate in two events hosted by the UM Division of Outreach and Continuing Education.

Nearly 500 students will come as part of the 2009 Youth Leadership Summit coordinated by the Mississippi Municipal League (MML), a non–profit group that represents the cities and towns of Mississippi to the state legislature. In addition, more than 300 students will come as part of the 23rd annual University of Mississippi Academic Invitational Tournament (UMAIT)–a quiz bowl competition for the best and brightest in Mississippi and Mid–South schools.

MML’s 2009 Youth Leadership Summit

The ambitious students attending multiple lectures and seminars Saturday as part of the 2009 Youth Leadership Summit did not sign up for the event–they were recruited. All participants are youths chosen by the mayors of their respective cities.

Attendees will hear guest speakers and attend seminars related to current municipal issues. Seminars will range from urban development strategies to dressing for success to the importance of community service. The summit will last from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Ole Miss senior Valerie Baggett–named Miss Hospitality for Oxford and Lafayette County, Miss.–will address students in the opening session of the event. The keynote speaker will be Paul Martin, an author and athlete who, despite the loss of his leg in a 1992 car accident, is a marathon runner. He has completed 10 Ironman Triathlons since his challenge and holds the world record for leg amputees among other athletic achievements.

“We are so pleased that more than 500 young people have registered for our conference in only its 2nd year,” said MML President Mayor Knox W. Ross, Jr., of Pelahatchie. “It is exciting that these young people have an interest in municipal government and public service at an early age.”

UMAIT

Sixty–four quiz bowl teams from more than 40 schools will put in a full day’s work Saturday in a double–elimination tournament on topics ranging from fine arts and humanities to the sciences.

The competition will last from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Hume, Holman, and Connor Halls. Ole Miss faculty and staff members will quiz team members. Ole Miss students will serve as scorekeepers and timekeepers. Students use a game show style buzzer system to compete. Teams must be defeated twice before they may be eliminated.

“It’s a good time for everyone involved,” said Brian Starling, the event coordinator. “These teams are really the crème of the crop from their high schools. They are the intellectuals. It is a chance for them to flex their mental muscles.”

All schools must first be invited to compete in the event. The UMAIT is considered to be one of the premier quiz bowls among Mississippi high school sponsors, according to Starling.

Teams are made up of freshmen thru senior high school students, usually with four competitors and two alternates. Some schools send multiple teams. All participants receive a T–shirt and the winners receive a trophy to take back to their respective schools.

“There are some teams that do well every year, and we are seeing a lot of the same people come back,” Starling said. “When you get those veterans in there is when it really makes for a good competition.”

(Andrew Abernathy)