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)
Arkansas High School
  • Ellen Andrews
  • Phillip Barnes
  • Kaylee Dunphy
  • Dezmond Harris
  • Ja'Na'i Labbe
  • Jalen Manley
  • Emma Smith

Liberty-Eylau High School
  • Shaivalri Benton
  • Madison Deen
  • Alexandria Nelson
  • Shamar Sanders
  • Haleigh Stone
Pleasant Grove High School
  • Madison Howell
  • Tessa Hurst
  • Ellen Womack
 Texas High School
  • Jillian Cheney
  • John Debenport
  • Tucker Douglass
  • Raga Justin
  • Mary Claire Paddock
  • Carson Rommel
  • Tyler Snell
  • Leighton Weber

Other District Representatives

  • Corie Aaron - Genoa Central High School
  • Garrett Hines - Trinity Christian School
  • Cade Rich - DeKalb High School

TYTL Class of 2014

Facilitators

  • Tina Veal Gooch (LT 1993)
  • Robin Hickerson (LT 2012)
  • Bill Harp (TYTL Board Chair, LT 2012)
Arkansas High School
  • Vicki Allen
  • Bailee Cummings
  • Bridget Gilmore
  • Brady Hoover
  • Durand Huntley
  • Jason Lloyd
  • Blake Rico
  • Kaitlin Sanderson
  • Cameron Ytzen
Liberty-Eylau High School
  • Kyle Bean
  • Cami Brown
  • Jasmine Campbell
  • Ryneshia Fort
  • Brent Graham
  • Shelby Halliburton
  • Mikayla Kearns
  • Malik Sanders
  • Wynter Villa
Pleasant Grove High School
  • Caroline Crain
  • Lauren Davis
  • Emily Engstrom
  • Maddox Manthei
  • Aaron Pitman
  • Madison Smith
  • Holly Stouffer
  • Austin Taylor
  • Lexi Zachry

Texas High School

  • Maggie Coleman
  • Leah Crenshaw
  • Madeline Hunley
  • Laura Rochelle
  • Sidney Rogers
  • Eron Sonson
  • Rachel Stuart
  • Chandler Thomas
  • Joshua Whitehorn

TYTL Class of 2013

Facilitators

  • Bill Harp (TYTL Board Chair, LT 2012)
  • Curriculum Directors: Debby Sutton (LT 2009) with Tiffany Beck
Arkansas High School
  • Jada Bullock
  • Diana Cardenas
  • Kristen Clay
  • Caroline Dalby
  • Jaicey Dowd
  • William Gloster
  • Clifton Harris
  • Antwan Jordan
  • Kayla Melton
  • Jackson Murphy
  • Maliek Osborne
  • Mason Rostollan
Liberty-Eylau High School
  • Daniel Berry
  • Kierra Hill
  • Elizabeth Mangus
Pleasant Grove High School
  • Jacob Bennett
  • Chelsea Cole
  • Thomas Erwin
  • Landry Guyton
  • Taylor Langdon
  • Kevin Nguyen
  • Tiffani Smith
  • Alexandria Taylor

Texas High School

  • Hannah Brantley
  • Cortlandt Bursey-Reece
  • Miles Coleman
  • Adam Graves
  • Madison Norton
  • Joshua Robinson
  • Jalissa Trotter

TYTL Class of 2012

Facilitators

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

Arkansas High School
  • Hayden Ellis
  • Kae-llan Floyd
  • Ashley Marx
  • Phoebe Randle
  • Aleecia Tyous

Pleasant Grove High School

  • Natalie Irwin
  • Laikyn Jean
  • Tyler Goldsmith
  • Elizabeth Stark
  • Matt Day
  • Ashlyn Ferguson
  • Kendall Lindsey
  • Megan McCorkle
  • Erika Rodriguez
  • Jorge Rodriguez
  • Reneé Walker
  • Logan Young

Liberty-Eylau High School

  • Tanner Bell
  • Keandra Carroll
  • Douglas Goodnight
  • Venitia Kennedy
  • Keyundra Anders
  • Camren Woods

Texas High School

  • Carlie Clem
  • Lindsey Gore
  • Marissa Johnston
  • Raven Lewis
  • Alexandra Prather
  • Makenzie Sangalli
  • Jacob Hill