Eighth graders Brooke Bower and Emma Keating have been friends since their early elementary years, and do just about everything together. Emma (president) and Brooke (vice president) are both on George F. Baker Middle School’s Student Council and members of the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS). In addition, they were the only two Tuxedo students this year who were selected to participate in the Junior Leadership Orange (JLO) Program.
JLO’s mission is to identify emerging young leaders and provide them with knowledge and skills to strengthen their local communities. The organization requires Emma and Brooke to attend six meetings held in different locations throughout Orange County over the course of the school year — engaging in monthly, in-depth educational sessions taught by local business, community and government leaders. Together with their peers from 16 other local school districts, they join instructors and facilitators from a variety of sectors across Orange County to receive training in several areas including: leadership; education and college readiness; the justice system; public speaking and communication; volunteerism; diversity; fiscal literacy; and, quality-of-life.
Both Emma and Brooke were already active in the Tuxedo community before being selected to participate in JLO, and both agree that the group has helped them develop a greater appreciation for volunteerism. Brooke explained, “Being a part of JLO has allowed me to understand the impact that helping people can have. You can turn something that is sad into something that is happy.”
The two comrades are thrilled to be sharing this experience together. “Everyone thinks we are in competition, but we are good friends,” said Emma. “Of course we want to succeed, but we want the other to also do well.”
Teacher Anne Castellanos says Emma and Brooke complement and play off of each other nicely. “When one of them does something, it encourages the other to do it. They each push the other to do better, and it works well for them.”
Both students intend to continue volunteering, even after they graduate from the JLO program, and have college in their post-secondary plans. Whatever their high school years bring, it is foreseeable that Emma and Brooke will sustain their mutually-supportive friendship and persist in motivating each other to succeed.