Fox Valley high school students learn leadership, stress management at Teen Symposium

APPLETON — Kristen Halfmann has always considered herself to be an outgoing and overall confident person — even as a freshman in high school.

But if anyone would've asked her then if Halfmann thought of herself as a leader, she would've answered emphatically "no."

That all changed after Halfmann attended her first Teen Symposium, an annual event sponsored by United Way Fox Cities and the YMCA Fox Cities that aims to help kids build, develop and reinforce leadership skills — while managing the stress of balancing academics, extracurricular activities and personal wellness. 

Now a senior at Kimberly High School, Halfmann serves as a leader on the event's youth board, helping other ninth-graders become community leaders and practice self- care, as she did four years ago.

"It really helped me step outside of my comfort zone and become more of the leader I knew I could be and that I've become today," Halfmann said Monday. "I think that's part of my drive for my life now — to be a role model and a leader." 

Halfmann was among more than 200 teens from 10 local high schools — including Appleton East, Brillion, Freedom, Kaukauna, Kimberly, Little Chute, Menasha, Neenah, New London and Wrightstown — to attend the symposium Monday at the Red Lion Hotel Paper Valley in downtown Appleton. 

With the theme "your only limit is you," participating ninth-graders spent the morning attending sessions on stress management, yoga and a teen panel, during which older high school students shared advice on how to be a community leader and manage stress. 

Ava Bloch, a freshman at Kaukauna High School, said she felt like she learned a lot — about yoga (Monday was her first time trying it) and other people's high school experiences.

"It's good to know what other people are going through, what they learned from their high school experience and kind of learn how I should live my life," Bloch said.

Students also attended a "Magic of Student Leadership" workshop, presented by Carl Olson, and contributed to one or two community service projects.

They also learned about service and volunteer opportunities from a Community Resource Fair, which featured more than 20 non-profit agencies.

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Over the last 20 years, the event has focused on motivating teens to volunteer. But when Mandi Dornfeld of United Way Fox Cities took over as organizer four years ago, she made some changes after finding out that a large portion of Fox Valley youth didn't feel valued in the community.

While the event has an adult panel that helps plan the event, the symposium is largely organized by teens, who assist with everything from determining speakers and designing the T-shirts, to serving as master of ceremonies and helping run panels and other activities. 

Dornfeld said the yoga session was added at the suggestion of the youth board. Although the adult board wasn't sure about it initially, Dornfeld said the sessions throughout the morning are always packed with kids.

"To me, that says it must really resonate with what they need," Dornfeld said. "Our mission is not just asking kids to do more (through volunteering), but to build their connections in the community and build skills in ways that can serve them, too."

Contact reporter Samantha West at 920-996-7207 or swest@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @BySamanthaWest.