History

The Louisiana Youth Seminar was established in 1971 as a summer leadership camp for high school students. Every year the Seminar is held at Louisiana State University for one week in July. During this week, students participate in many activities which focus on leadership skills, such as effective communication skills, setting and achieving goals, team building, understanding and accepting others, developing self confidence, conducting effective meetings, problem solving skills.

The goal of LYS is to develop students' raw leadership potential into skills that will help them to succeed as leaders, whether in business, government or the nonprofit arena. LYS delegates meet interesting people from across the state, learn how to achieve life goals, and compete in good-natured yet challenging projects. LYS enhances the leadership potential in each individual and provides leadership opportunities through hands-on experience.

LYS has been providing the highest caliber of leadership training for about 40 years. We welcome all high school incoming juniors and seniors throughout Louisiana. Students come to LYS via a variety of ways: selected by their schools, sent by their parents, recruited by past LYS delegates and staff and by LYS friends and family. The goal of LYS is to attract students of all talents, interests and backgrounds.

LYS is organized, staffed and directed by young professionals and college students who volunteer their time every summer. Each staff member has participated in the seminar as a student delegate and therefore understands the inner workings of the program. The staff is young, positive, and progressive and can easily identify with the hopes, feelings and trends of Louisiana's youth.

LYS is a unique leadership program. Although there are other summer camps, they focus on different areas of emphasis. LYS is different because it focuses on leadership skills, it is open to all potential leaders not just one group, and because it recruits a diverse group of students. LYS has impacted over 7000 young leaders over the past 40 years.

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