Photo Caption: LEAD Minnesota students participate in a mock legislative hearing chaired by Representative Jim Nash (R-Waconia) on July 27, 2022

Today marks the end of our LEAD 2022 summer camp, a week-long, labor-intensive, thrilling roller coaster ride for both students and staff. Our students were some of the best we have ever seen, and it will be hard to say goodbye. We pray the skills and friendships that they discovered this week will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

As students began to trickle onto the University of Northwestern’s campus on Sunday evening, the energy and excitement became tangible. Students bid goodbye to their parents and turned their attention to Riley Hall, the academic hub for the week. In room 2308, our newly elected student Representatives found their seats and prepared to drink from the firehose. Senator Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton) led the students in their first introduction to the world of legislation. Questions shot out from the audience, showing exactly how eager each student was to learn how our Minnesota’s legislature really works. As the lights shut off across campus signaling the end of our first day, the excitement felt by students reverberated through the halls.

Monday morning started with an odd sight. As the leaders entered UNW’s dining hall, we saw students bent over the morning newspaper (a strange phenomenon in our screen-addicted generation). Thanks to the diligent work of our Media Track student Eli Johnson, daily editions of the LEAD Examiner were made possible. Each day, the paper included important topics such as world events, the weather, and hilariously misquoted students.

Our LEAD program combines both a deep dive into legislative process with intensive worldview education to give students a complete picture of how our world works. As such, students spent valuable time in the classroom researching, writing, and thinking critically about the bills they had been assigned to defend. Peyton Voss, a member of the Adams Orange committee emphasized that LEAD allowed her to “actually do stuff that seems so real and gets you in a mindset of ‘maybe I could do this as a career path.’” The bills to which students were assigned are real bills that have been debated repeatedly in our Minnesota legislature. Real legislation presents the students with real challenges that they have to overcome, and overcoming adversity is the best way to learn.

We would be amiss if we did not make mention of our brilliant keynote speaker, Ryan Bomberger, a man on fire for the Lord and a cultural warrior. Grace Evans of Minnesota Family Council had the privilege of speaking with Ryan about his experience with LEAD students this week. Ryan animatedly explained to Grace that he has spoken to both Harvard and Princeton students before and that in his view LEAD students are more humble, more engaged, and smarter. Ryan also told Grace that he was extremely impressed by our students and told her that in his opinion they were working at the collegiate level already, although LEAD is for students aged 14-19. We couldn’t agree more. So much talent and possibility packed into room 2308 – Minnesota’s future is bright.

It was a joy to witness each and every student grow in their faith and learn how to be great leaders in their generation. It is our hope and prayer that LEAD has helped these young teens become citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Stay tuned to hear more on LEAD 2022 from LEAD program director Patience Griswold.