Seneca Valley Hosts Leadership Conference for Western PA schools

students and about 400 others from school districts across western Pennsylvania learned on Tuesday what it takes to become a leader.

The students, who are members of student councils at their middle or high schools, were gathered at the Camp Kon-O-Kwee Conference Center in Fombell for the Pennsylvania Association of School Council’s District 2 Fall Leadership Conference. Seneca Valley Intermediate High School was host for this year’s event.

“I was inspired,” said Teresa Leatherow, president of Seneca Valley’s freshman class.

The keynote speaker was Alvin Law, a motivational speaker from Canada who was born without arms. Law detailed overcoming challenges, including his struggles to turn a birth defect into a successful career.

“Life is full of challenges, but how we get through it is not working alone but together," he said. “These young people here today can be good examples for students who are struggling in their schools.”

After his presentation, Law shook the students' hands – using his feet.

The conference theme was "Epic." Leatherow said it was chosen because it means to “surpass the usual or ordinary." Like her fellow students, she wore a white T-shirt with the word printed across the front in orange. The back featured the name and date of the conference entwined in a Seneca Valley student's design.

This is the second time Leatherow has heard Law speak, and she enjoyed it as much as she did the first time.

“I still think he is intriguing and motivating,” she said. ‘He’s just a great guy.”

The District 2 Conference includes schools from Lawrence, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Armstrong, Jefferson, Indiana and Mercer counties.