LPS unifies students from multiple school districts during annual leadership summit

April 21, 2025

Students from across the state strengthened their support networks this spring during a full day of healthy conversations at Lincoln Public Schools.
 
Dozens of middle and high school students gathered at Steve Joel District Leadership Center for the Greater Than One District summit, hosted and organized by the LPS Multicultural Education Department. Guests from Omaha Public Schools, Omaha Creighton Prep, Omaha Westside, Bellevue Public Schools and Grand Island Public Schools joined LPS students for the third-annual event. They took part in large-group activities and smaller breakout sessions that promoted cooperation and camaraderie.
 
Irving Middle School student Octavia said she was glad she had accepted an invitation to attend the Greater Than One District event. She said the rich mosaic of people who were with her during the breakout sessions had created many fulfilling moments.
 
“It makes me happy because I walked in without even an idea of how things would go, and I’m coming out with all of these concepts and ideas,” Octavia said. “I’m walking out with so much more than what I walked in with, and I think that is so amazing.”
 
Omaha Westside student Lucia said she was also enjoying the day. She attended a similar type of event for the first time last October, and she left that conference feeling enthusiastic about her future role at Westside. She was excited when she heard that LPS was offering a daylong program about topics such as leadership, belonging and helping others.
 
“I’ve met so many new people and I feel like I’ve really broadened my perspectives about a lot of things,” Lucia said. “I’ve learned how other people think about things and how it’s different from other perspectives. It’s been awesome.”
 
LPS Coordinator of Culture and Inclusion Peter Ferguson felt students like Octavia and Lucia gained many valuable life lessons from the summit. He invited speakers from Nebraska Wesleyan University, Hastings College and YWCA Lincoln to lead three breakout sessions, and he organized activities for the full group both in the morning and afternoon. He felt the summit provided a valuable space for many learning and leadership opportunities.
 
“The summit was a resounding success in bringing together scholars on the foundation of building community through shared voice and experiences,” Ferguson said.
 
Grand Island administrator Amanda Levos echoed Ferguson’s comments. Levos met Ferguson at a MENTOR Nebraska event this past year, and she learned about the bright outcomes that had happened at the previous two Greater Than One District summits. That conversation led to the appearance of 13 Grand Island students at the LPS conference.
 
“At every one of the three breakout sessions, I’ve just been really impressed by the level of student engagement and how they’ve talked about topics that are meaningful to them and relevant to how they view the world through their lenses as young adults,” Levos said. “It’s definitely giving them opportunities to share their own personal experiences, but then also to be able to learn and listen from others who have different perspectives.”
 
YWCA Lincoln Director Karen Bell-Dancy and YWCA Lincoln Associate Director Myeisha Essex co-led one breakout session that focused on various identities such as economic, literacy and ability status. They asked students which identity they thought about the most, and the entire group discussed how and why it was important to be kind and respectful to others. They repeated the process with the identities students said they thought about the least, which led to similar insights from everyone in the room.
 
Bell-Dancy was encouraged by what she heard from the first group of the day. She said it was important to highlight leadership topics for students from all school districts.
 
“To be able to have an impact on the next generation of learners is something that is so much fun,” Bell-Dancy said. “We’re always looking for ways to promote education and to keep that learning process going for them. We just relish this type of opportunity.”
 
North Star High School graduate and Hastings College staff member Casey Molifua led another breakout session that taught students about practicing perspective. They took part in a picture activity that showcased how embracing many viewpoints can strengthen school and civic communities.
 
“I had fun and I learned a lot, especially with the pictures,” Lucia said. “That was really interesting to see how this activity can be done, because I’ve done it in different ways before, and it was fun to see how you can gain different lessons from it.”
 
Ferguson said he was pleased to watch the conversations between presenters, staff and students that happened throughout the day. He was also eager to hear about the post-event engagement that will take place in the coming weeks and months. Students from each of the two previous summits have remained friends and have incorporated many leadership skills into their school activities.
 
Octavia said she was glad she took the time to strengthen her support network at the LPS summit.
 
“I wanted to be heard and listened to and represented, and I felt that this would be a great place to put my voice out there,” Octavia said. “It’s been everything that I was hoping for and more.”
 
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