Junior Attends National Leadership Conference

Preparing for Student Director of Human Rights Walk in December

Imagine having the opportunity to identify current global problems and to provide solutions just when you are about to start your junior year of high school. Such was the case for junior Pablo Flower, who attended the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) at Georgetown University on August 2-11.

The NSLC is a leadership program for outstanding high school students. Student scholars are selected to participate from across the United States and from more than 70 different countries, based upon academic excellence, extracurricular involvement and demonstrated leadership ability. Pablo was recommended and nominated by his English teacher, Ginger Burk.

Flower attended the NSLC on International Diplomacy. During this 10-day leadership development program, he addressed significant domestic and international issues such as how to handle international human rights violations, when to deploy UN peacekeeping forces, and how to draft international legislation. He attended special briefings from speakers such as Ms. Kathy Stoker, Deputy CEO of the Peace Corps and Dr. Dana Johnson, as Senior Advisor of Space Policy at the State Department. Additionally, Flower visited and received briefings at the Embassies of Finland and Saudi Arabia, the State Department, and the United Nations, making this an unparalleled experience.

“There is no better way to spend your summer than debating and solving global problems," Flower said. "Issues such as Israel-Palestine and the Syrian conflict should bring attention to us all. I pray that our world leaders will come together like we simulated in our classroom and listen to each other for understanding and to reach a global solution to these issues.”

Flower said that one of the most exciting experiences for him was to model the creation of an NGO that would in theory liberate child soldiers in countries such as South Sudan, Uganda and Middle Eastern countries. Through participation in this program, he said he not only developed a better understanding of his leadership skills, but his ability to think on his feet, engage in critical analysis, and effectively bring urgency to the things that matter most to him – protecting human rights around the globe.

This year, Pablo will again serve as the Student Director of the annual Human Rights Walk and Festival that was initiated by Cooper alum Demme Durrett ('15) and has become one of the largest of its kind in the country. The 8th Annual Human Rights Walk will be held in The Woodlands on December 8.
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The John Cooper School is an independent, non-sectarian, co-educational, college preparatory day school. Our mission is to provide a challenging education in a caring environment to a diverse group of select students, enabling them to become critical and creative thinkers, effective communicators, responsible citizens and leaders, and lifelong learners.

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