Learning To Lead At Future Presidents Of America Camp
By: Marissa Meador
While many young Hoosiers are enjoying their summers at the pool or playing video games at a friends’ house, a group of 18 teenagers are in a classroom planning for the future.
As they listen to a speech from Marion Superior Court Judge Ryan Gardner, students take notes, sip water or Dunkin iced coffee and fidget with highlighters. They’re wearing suits, dresses and collared shirts, sometimes paired with sneakers or high heels.
The room buzzes with a mix of nerves and excitement, and hands seem spring-loaded to shoot up at the chance to ask a question. Between speakers, students crack jokes and chat about their grade point averages.
Ranging from 13 to 17, the students are part of the Future Presidents of America camp’s ninth year of programming. The five-day experience is run by the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site and involves speeches, classes on history and leadership skills and several ceremonies.
The idea of the camp centers around the special role of the American President. Unlike other offices, only 45 people have served in the role.
With the experience of the presidency so unique, site president Charles Hyde asks: what can we learn from them?
In addition to guest speakers, students have retraced Benjamin Harrison’s steps through a walking tour of downtown Indianapolis and have taken classes on public speaking, the Constitution and the executive branch. Other highlights include a wreath laying ceremony at Harrison’s tomb and a naturalization ceremony at the Federal Court.
The program reserves 11 spots for Marion County students who are nominated by their superintendent, although not all spots are filled. The remaining students apply, sometimes from other states, and are selected after an interview process. This year’s cohort features a student from California, but the program has had students from Ohio and Texas in the past.
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Meeting the students
The students are talented in multiple areas: they play sports, instruments and enjoy extracurriculars like history and geography Club. One enjoys modeling, another drives go-karts and one teen can identify any country from its flag.
Eden Ridout, a 17-year-old at Lawrence Central High School, enjoys speech and debate. Her specialty is persuasive speech, which she said requires the ability to communicate effectively and with respect.
Ridout said the presidential camp has taught her the importance of preparation, regardless of the career someone is in. Ridout hopes to be a high school English teacher and coach a speech and debate team of her own, she said.
Though Ridout is one of the oldest students at the camp, middle school students are well-represented at the camp. Luke Swartz, a 13-year-old at Franklin Central Junior High, said he thinks he wants to race sports cars when he grows up. He recently attended the Indianapolis 500, he said.
Swartz said the camp has taught him how to respect others and listen.
Another 13-year-old, Evan Tang, is an eighth grader at Sycamore School. He hopes to teach history one day.
During the program, Tang said he has learned how to better make an argument and refute points. In his pocket, Tang carries a Rubik’s cube — he’s not good enough to win competitions, he said, but the cube is a good way to calm down.
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Etiquette and more
In the lull between speakers, Roger Hardig, the site’s vice president of education, led the group in a discussion over letters sent by kids to former presidents. In one letter, a group of girls beg then-President Dwight Eisenhower to spare Elvis Presley’s hair from the G.I. buzzcut.
“We think it bad enough to send Elvis Presley in the army, but if you cut his sideburns off, we will just die!” they write.
The letter is signed with a heart and the phrase “Elvis Presley Lovers.”
“What would make it even better would be if they said ‘P.S.: Adlai Stevenson never would have made him cut his hair,’” one 13-year-old quipped, referencing Eisenhower’s Democratic opponent.
The final agenda item of the morning was a presentation on etiquette from Renee Weghorst: “Poise, Policy and Protocol for Young Adults.”
Weghorst told the students etiquette is a code. She had them practice firm handshakes with eye contact, and warns of RBF — “Resting Brat Face.” In conversation, she advised them to ask open-ended questions, stay away from gossip and master the art of listening.
“Words are like toothpaste,” she said. “Once they go out, they can’t go back in.”
In the break between the first and second parts of the etiquette lesson — where the students practiced their newfound skills with a plated lunch — some milled around outside.
As smoke from the Canadian wildfires descended in a haze upon the grounds of the presidential site, students began chatting about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Despite having different interests and career goals, they all carried a sense of curiosity and an eagerness to affect change.
Among current attendees are alumni of the program who have come back to work. Jayne Ndiaye, who has been involved with the camp for three summers, now works as an FPA Ambassador.
She said the program helped her realize that she had the potential to change the world, which is not something every student hears.
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