2013 Youth Leadership Academy

By Bash Brown

Day 1

• The morning of the first day of the Youth Leadership Academy (YLA) consisted of introductions and the issuing of equipment for the week.

• Each Ambassador received booklets, t-shirts and water bottles for field excursions, and a camera to capture their experience.

• Following lunch, we piled into the vans and proceeded to the Cairo Museum to meet with retired General Parker Hills, where he spoke to us about the aspects of a great leader: P.R.I.D.E.

• P.R.I.D.E: Perspective, Responsibility, Intuition, Daring, Endurance.

Day 2: Interpreter Day

• Now that we were no longer strangers and were well equipped for the week, we were able to devote our whole day to our learning experience.

• However, nature disagreed with us. The cannon firing we were scheduled to see was rained out. As a result, we proceeded onward to Natchez to view the antebellum home Melrose.

• On our way along the Natchez Trace, we stopped at Mount Locust, a historic inn.

Day 3: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

• This day was my personal favorite. The YLA traveled to Tensas National Wildlife Refuge to meet with biologist John Dickson and his crew in the field as they tagged birds.

• We worked side by side with them, even holding and releasing the birds once they were properly tagged.

• As we toured the Refuge throughout the day, we learned how to age trees, irrigate fields, and identify snakes (a lesson originally not intended to be included!)

Day 4: Archeology

• On the fourth day, archeologist Chris Koeppel presented a powerpoint on headstones, cemeteries, and grave ethics. We then traveled to the Hebrew Cemetery within the park, where we performed our own headstone rubbings.

• Later that same day, we traveled to the Winterville Mound in Greenville, Mississippi. Once there, we worked alongside an archeological dig program from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Day 5:Natural Resources

• On Friday, we spent the morning with Virginia DuBowy, the Natural Resources Manager.

• She discussed the different animals and plants that proliferate the park and even simulated an experiment on animal habitats.

• The following afternoon, Patty Montague, a Law

Enforcement Officer in the park, gave us a lesson on

crime scene investigation.

• The morning was spent applying wax to monumental busts on Pemberton Avenue using paintbrushes and blowtorches alongside Bendel White and Michael Bercume.

• We then traveled to Dr. Sessums’ art studio in Brookhaven, where we received a tour of the facilities and his house.

Day 7: Artifact Storage

• Sadly, our experience had to come to an end. It did, however, end on a VERY high note.

• The Sunday following the YLA, all of the ambassadors gathered together by the Cairo to eat, proceeding from there to the artifact storage facilities.

• We were able to see, first-hand, objects which had previously been hidden for 150 years.

Thank you so much for this opportunity!

YLA