HOBY Washington: Future of the U.S. Role in the World

For a full description with photos from the 2007 HOBY Washington, view Capitol Forum comes to HOBY. One of the required topics at the HOBY (Hugh O’Brian Youth) Leadership Seminar for high school sophomores is a panel on the Future of the U.S. Role in the World. That turned out to be a perfect match for Capitol Forum. In 2007, we divided up the 140 HOBY ambassadors into the Four Futures, plus the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Each Future took its handout and had about 40 minutes to prepare a visual, oral, and kinesthetic presentation. After the large group presentations, the ambassadors deliberated the merits of each Future and completed the paper ballot.

In 2008, we again brought Capitol Forum to HOBY, but this time we used the HOBY Team Alumni (students returning from 2007 to be on staff) as the facilitators for each Future breakout and as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That worked out great and demonstrated how quickly students can step into leadership roles when we give them a chance. During the deliberation, students had an opportunity to go to one of four corners of the room to be with the Future that they felt most aligned to, or stand in the middle, if they preferred a Future 5. As the Futures asked questions of each other, one girl began to question how anyone could believe in Future X. The other students, as budding young leaders, stepped forward and expressed how important it is to make room for all viewpoints in order to have a strong, vibrant democracy.

Note: Founded in 1958 by veteran actor Hugh O’Brian, HOBY (Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership) is one of the country’s top youth leadership development organizations. HOBY’s mission is to provide lifelong leadership development opportunities that empower individuals to achieve their highest potential, to make a difference, and to become positive catalysts for change—in the home, school, workplace, and community. For more information, see www.hoby.org and HOBY Washington www.hobywa.org, contact michele.aoki@k12.wa.us.

For more description and photos from the 2007 HOBY Washington, view Capitol Forum comes to HOBY.

Return to Capitol Forum New Models