Teens Travel to Texas For Leadership and Service Conference

Keystone is a Boys & Girls Clubs of America program helping teens gain leadership skills and service experience.

Every year, local Keystone participants have the opportunity to join thousands of teens for the National Keystone Conference for networking opportunities, leadership development, and celebration of their contributions to their local Club and community. Four of our teens attended this year's conference in Dallas, Texas and are taking over the blog and sharing their experience below!

Day 1 - Thrive

On the first day of the conference, we learned to “thrive.” We entered our very own Texas State Fair, complete with carnival and fair-styled activities with both savory and sweet snacks like popcorn and cotton candy. Everyone knows a line dance can bring people together, and it most definitely did. Whether we knew one another or not, everyone had a great time dancing on the first day and couldn't wait for the action to begin. With our tails between our legs, we hurried through a college fair to win prizes for finishing. We ended the night with a dance party, karaoke, games, tattoos, and caricatures.

Four teens and one staff from Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond attend the 56th Annual National Keystone Conference

Day 2 - Be Heard

The next day's meaning was to “be heard.” The first sessions that followed this theme were social justice, advocacy, healthy relationships, and emotional wellness. We also attended lectures on important topics related to the Keystone experience, including fundraising, volunteer work, and our national project. The day's entertaining courses included STEM, fashion, ballet, dance, and music/art. During the general session, we learned that "success is the journey, not the reward."Success does not happen overnight but over the course of several phases. The day ended with hand-designed cowboy hats, sumo wrestling, and singing songs like Justin Bieber's song Baby at the top of our lungs. This day main focus was to get teens to network with one another and get a feel of each others keystone clubs. We can’t forget about our “ROLLCALL” - what every Keystone club has to do that introduces who you are. You can make a song, chant, rap, dance, etc. It is shown throughout the rest of the conference for everyone to see and get a glimpse of who you are.

Day 3 - Be You

Our final day's theme was "be you." The Passport to Manhood and SMART Girls workshops provided examples of this. Another choice that demonstrated to us the value of helping others was community service. The winner of the talent competition charmed us with an outstanding performance and received much-awarded applause. According to our special guest, Katelyn Ohashi, "No matter how many fractures you have, you're never broken. You're whole." Her experience showed us the value of staying loyal to oneself for personal development and general wellness. And to truly cap off the conference, we went to Six Flags. Jayden remarked, “Six Flags brought out the happiness in me. The rides were thrilling, unexpected, and fun and made me wanna stay at Six Flags forever.”

Nothing beats the sense of being appreciated, understood, and cared for by the Boys & Girls Club. This conference has given us the knowledge and skills necessary to "Thrive, Be heard, and Be you." To remember that we are the future and we are the change that this world needs. A reminder to never let anyone tell you what you can’t do. We wouldn't change a single aspect of this experience.

co-written by Club members, Jaeda Perry and A'Landa Macklin