Kiesow is a part of the HOBY Minnesota 2019 seminar

Founded in 1958, HOBY’s mission is to inspire and develop our global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service and innovation. 

HOBY programs are conducted annually throughout the United States, serving local and international high school students. HOBY programs provide students selected by their schools to participate in unique leadership training, service learning and motivation-building experiences.

Chosen from Grygla was Levi Kiesow, who attended HOBY’s Minnesota 2019 seminar with approximately 85 other students at St. Cloud State University June 7-9.

While at HOBY, Levi was a member of the Royal Blue group, facilitated by Caitlyn Parsons, a speech-language pathologist at South Washington County Schools and longtime HOBY volunteer.

Throughout the weekend, youth participated in numerous activities created to develop the youth’s leadership skills. They went through four “phases” based on different types of leadership. The ambassadors also listened to numerous speakers whom each had a leadership role in society that corresponded to the different phases. 

Speakers included: the Mayor of St. Cloud, HOBY Minnesota Chair, Founder of “Like A Girl”, Founder of College Possible, and many others.

Throughout the weekend, ambassadors were challenged to go outside their comfort zones, create goals, and grow in their leadership abilities.

Ambassadors were also challenged mentally and emotionally through activities such as “The Ice Cream Game.” In this activity, each ambassador was assigned to a group based on ice cream flavors, the flavors all corresponded to societal groups that had strong stereotypes (white, black, LGBTQ+, females, Latina, and the disabled community). The students were not aware of this hidden meaning during the activity. They were then tasked to create a community. Each group was given a different amount of supplies/money and were treated based on stereotypes of that group. i.e. Females were asked where their husbands were when they wanted to go somewhere, or LGBTQ+ only being allowed to build clubs or things that support the arts. The students began catching on after a while and then went through a debrief on the topic where the hidden meanings were revealed. With students from all different backgrounds attending seminar, there were many different viewpoints on the topic, which everyone discussed. It always is a big eye opener for the students when they “go through” the societal injustices that happen today. 

This information was all provided by Kristin Farris, an alumna of Goodridge High School, who attended HOBY as an ambassador in 2015 and started volunteering as the photographer in 2018.