MASC/MAHS Michigan Student Leadership is here for you all summer long! With programs, student camps and available adviser PD to make sure your council starts the 2016 school year in the right direction! This isn’t work, this is what we love! Check out our full summer guide, including our Summer Adviser Summit, one-day Summer Leadership Seminars and of course, make sure your student leaders sign-up for one of our renowned Summer Leadership Camps! To view the Summer Program Guide click here.

A program shake-up is on its way for our annual Leadership Training Institutes (LTIs). Over the past two years, MASC/MAHS Michigan Student Leadership has been working with our student Board of Delegates to design student-centered curriculum that helps frame the importance of soft skills and leadership traits as everyday, 21st century skills. Keeping in mind that colleges and future employers value these traits more than ever, we will continue to design and execute these crucial aspects of development, but our LTI programs will now cover even more ground, with new competitions and skill sessions run by professionals in the field. Read more here.

Get another task crossed off your end-of-school list before summer hits! Join MASC/MAHS Michigan Student Leadership for the 2016-127 school year! Great resources, student programs, adviser trainings and, most importantly, a great community of involved advisers from across the state! For more information on member benefits or to renew online, click here.

This course was created and designed to facilitate a deeper understanding of curricular components, student learning objectives and best-practice initiatives of a school activity adviser. With the changing landscape of professional practice and the growing need for extensive training on co-curriculum components as educational tools, MASC/MAHS Michigan Student Leadership created coursework to support these initiatives. Participants will earn 25 SCECHs after completion of the course (5 weeks in length, cost $125.00) which begins August 8th. For full program information and to register, click here.

Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students. By encouraging youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance, students can master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.

Participating high schools host their own competitions and select a student to represent their school at the state finals. The state champion will advance to the national finals in Washington, D.C. and compete for a $20,000 college scholarship. School champions will be invited to participate in the Michigan Youth Arts Festival, a three-day event featuring the finest artistic talent in Michigan high schools. Nearly 80,000 students from more than 50 Michigan high schools have participated in Poetry Out Loud programs since 2005. Click here for more information.

After months of posturing and addressing individual situations related to student gender identity and gender expression, OCR's policy-defining aggression on the topic reached an apex on May 13, with the issuance of a Dear Colleague Letter on the topic. The Letter, which presents as "guidance" but carries the full weight of the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education behind it (as well as the implicit threat to withdraw federal funds from districts), reiterates many of the same themes seen in earlier OCR settlement agreements and individual district investigations on these issues. Among them, specific guidance on name/pronoun usage, athletics, handling of student records, involvement with student activities, and overnight stays. Click here to read more.

We are trilled to announce that the SET SEG Foundation recently awarded a total of $26,000 in camp scholarship to 65 public high school students from 20 different counties across Michigan. Thanks to the generosity of the SET SEG Foundation, we are able to help more schools and student leaders from across the state participate in this great opportunity. To view the scholarship breakdown click here.