Aparna's Youth Leadership Experience

A couple of months ago, I got an opportunity to be the Youth Leadership Coordinator for Extraordinary Toastmasters At East Fort Worth Montessori Academy. I took the opportunity because this is one of the goals I needed towards my DTM. I was apprehensive and excited at the same time. After carefully planning out the schedule with the President of Extraordinary Toastmasters, the leadership club commenced on September 15th.

There were 5 students in total, ranging from grade 3 through grade 5. They were pretty enthusiastic from the start, and we worked as a team. The best part of Toastmasters Youth Leadership program is the wonderful manuals they provide to the coordinator and the students. They are very similar to our speech manuals with an objective to keep in mind. There were two officer elections and the students carried out the roles of President, Vice President, Secretary, SAA and Historian.

I saw a gradual improvement in their confidence and readiness to give speeches. They had a blast during Table Topics. Somehow, Table Topics was never intimidating to them, and they became experts at it. The finale was the speech contest at the end of 10 weeks. The students prepared hard, and in the presence of their family and friends, 4 students competed at the contest and did a fabulous job.

It was a very rewarding experience for me, especially when some of them mentioned that it made a difference in their life and that they are more confident in giving presentations. A fulfilling and exciting journey, I would never hesitate to do it again. Seeing a child beaming with confidence at the end of the training is definitely worth it.

I would like to thank Sandra Price for guiding me in this endeavor, and encouraging me throughout these 10 weeks.

Submitted By
Aparna Valluri