HOBY

We have been part of HOBY (Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership) for a few years as a couple. Stephanie became involved when she went through the program itself in 2002 as a sophomore in high school. She brought Nick into the program in 2007- just a year into dating - and he has been involved ever since. After 2002, she was hooked, and HOBY has become a passion and part of many friendships and good times for us.

To put it simply, HOBY is leadership development for high school sophomores. Fewer than 1 in 5 civic organizations are including young people in their work--and less are focused not on underprivileged, but on  tomorrow's leaders. For a great YouTube introduction, see this video.

We spent a few weekends back at Georgia Southwestern State University with 250 OUTSTANDING high school sophomores from across the state of Georgia as they learned about how to be a better leader (and as a side-effect, person) in this changing world.

Nick's group was the Cardinals, but they did this ridiculous dance called the Bernie (explanation here). Here's a picture of Nick's Cardinals:

Stephanie's group was a little more reserved, but awesome nonetheless. They were the Marlins (get it, baseball theme?). Here's a picture of her team:

And yes, I said there were 250 high school student Ambassadors:

We believe in HOBY, and we are taking on some pretty big roles in the next year for the 2012 seminar. More to follow, but if you would like more information (especially how to donate **wink**wink**), check out GA HOBY's site.

We love HOBY; you should too.