Today's Youth–Tomorrow's Leaders

Today's Youth Tomorrow's Leaders: Starting young to engage and equip high-school-aged leaders from throughout the community in working together for community excellence, pride and progress. Students in grades 10 and 11 are invited to apply each spring. TYTL is free to students. 

TYTL Partners in Leadership:  Liberty-Eylau ISD, Pleasant Grove ISD, Texarkana ISD, Texarkana Arkansas School District

One of Leadership Texarkana’s primary goals is educating and developing critical masses of individual leaders throughout the community. The purpose of Today's Youth Tomorrow's Leaders is to start young in engaging and equipping high-school-aged leaders from throughout the community in working together for community excellence, pride and progress.   

To that end, LT annually offers the Today’s Youth, Tomorrow’s Leaders program, which provides a community-based leadership curriculum for a limited number of selected youth from area high schools, at no charge to the students. 

TYTL was begun by Leadership Texarkana in 1995.   Since 2012, the four city school districts of Texarkana USA have partnered with Leadership Texarkana to ensure a portion of the funding for this leadership opportunity for area youth, as well as campus-based support; Leadership Texarkana funds cover the remaining fifty percent of program expense. 

Students in grades 10th and 11th are invited to apply each spring; applications are made available in late January through campus liaisons, individuals designated as TYTL Campus Leaders. Students in area schools beyond the four city districts are also eligible to apply. The goal is equivalent numbers of participants from each of the four city districts (typically a limit of eight per campus), with a limit of an additional eight collectively from outlying districts. The class sizes vary annually based on numbers of applicants and the goal of equivalent sized groups.   

Applications are reviewed in February and program invitations are sent by early March. The program takes place the third week of June, with day-long sessions at which attendance and participation is expected.    

The final session day includes a culminating celebratory reception for graduates and guests for each student involved. Students who successfully complete the program earn cords to wear at their high school commencement exercises.  

For details about the current year program and for applications, email [email protected].

History

TYTL was begun in 1995 by Leadership Texarkana Alumni Association as part of a Youth Initiatives of the organization...  “...to foster leadership among the youth of our community.”

The first committee, and those who developed the prototype, was comprised of administrators from the four city school districts and members at large. Molly Beth Malcolm was the first chair of the Youth Initiatives Committee. 

The result was a Future Leaders of Texarkana program modeled after the LT program. Twenty-five sophomores and juniors were to be selected each year from applications with all local public and private schools invited to participate; no more than 6 from each district allowed. There were four sessions throughout the school year. The format has changed over the years, in response to the schedules of students. 

The name Today’s Youth, Tomorrow’s Leaders (TYTL) came from the students who participated in 1998.

The program has always been manned and run by Leadership Texarkana graduates who have volunteered to lead the sessions.

TYTL Class of 2015

Facilitators

• Tina Veal Gooch (LT 1993)
• Robin Hickerson (TYTL Board Chair)

TYTL Class of 2014

Facilitators

• Tina Veal Gooch (LT 1993)
• Robin Hickerson (LT 2012)
• Bill Harp (TYTL Board Chair, LT 2012)

TYTL Class of 2013

Facilitators

• Bill Harp (TYTL Board Chair, LT 2012)
• Curriculum Directors: Debby Sutton (LT 2009) with Tiffany Beck

TYTL Class of 2012

Facilitators

Curriculum Directors: Debby Sutton (LT 2009) with Tiffany Beck