{"id":149055,"date":"2025-05-08T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=149055"},"modified":"2025-05-14T11:43:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T16:43:03","slug":"26-local-high-school-sophomores-complete-chamber-of-commerce-2025-junior-leadership-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/26-local-high-school-sophomores-complete-chamber-of-commerce-2025-junior-leadership-program\/","title":{"rendered":"26 Local High School Sophomores Complete Chamber of Commerce 2025 Junior Leadership Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The <strong>Oxford Lafayette<\/strong> <strong>Chamber of Commerce<\/strong> is proud to announce 26 graduates of its 2025 class <strong>Junior Leadership<\/strong> program. Over the course of three months the students have engaged in a wide range of diverse topics including leadership development, team building, and community engagement with various sectors such as the university, legal, medical, and arts communities. The program will culminated with a graduation dinner on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, to celebrate the achievements of the participants and their commitment to making a positive impact in their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Roberts Wilson<\/strong>, P.A. was this year&#8217;s Junior Leadership class program sponsor. As personal injury lawyers, they are committed to assisting injured individuals in navigating the challenging process of obtaining the compensation they deserve. Roberts Wilson P.A. is dedicated to helping their clients receive the compensation they are entitled to as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was thrilled to witness the transformative journey our students embarked on through this program,\u201d said <strong>Erin Smith<\/strong>, Junior Leadership Lafayette chair. \u201cBy engaging with leaders across various sectors, from law enforcement to the arts, our participants gained invaluable insights and skills essential for future leadership roles.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The impact of this exposure is profound, shaping them into informed, empathetic, and proactive community leaders poised to make a difference locally and beyond.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Erin Smith is Executive Director of <strong>CASA of North Mississippi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Participants from <strong>Lafayette High School<\/strong> include: <strong>Luke Bilbo, Leah Cooper, Miley Massey, Ani Meeks, Molly Riddle, David Swain, AJ Wilburn, Amber Wiley, Kaylee Wilkinson<\/strong>, and <strong>Prince Willams<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Participants from <strong>Oxford High School<\/strong> include: <strong>Luly Beauchamp, William Bouldin, Zach Brummett, Aiden Green, London Gregory, Dee Hankins, Simeon Maiden, Elizabeth McLellan, Riddhi Nautiyal, Anna Reed Perry, Olivia Cate Sherman, Collier Smith, Shelby Sorgenfrei<\/strong>, and <strong>Hugh Wilson<\/strong>. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other participants include: <strong>Avery Bell<\/strong> and <strong>Sawyer Ward<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chamber\u2019s\u00a0Junior Leadership\u00a0program is designed for high school\u00a0sophomores who are interested in sharpening their headship skills, learning more about their community, and getting involved in community service. \u00a0The program educates and motivates participants while honing their leadership skills. \u00a0The program runs annually from late January through April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Objectives of the Junior Leadership Lafayette Program are to: (1) Identify and cultivate young leaders in the Oxford and Lafayette County area.; (2)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Foster the early development of leadership skills in youth. Encourage participants to exert a strong, positive influence on the future of the City of Oxford and Lafayette County; (3) Teach participants to get along well with others and understand the importance of volunteering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each year the class chooses a recipient to be honored with a Leadership Award.\u00a0 This is the class member who has shown great leadership skills, has been present and engaged in the program, and has inspired others in their community service over the course of the program.\u00a0 This individual is someone who has gone above and beyond and stood out as a true leader among the class.\u00a0 This year the award was presented to Shelby Sorgenfrei, from Oxford High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chamber\u2019s Junior Leadership program began in 1998 and celebrates 28 years of Junior Leadership with this year&#8217;s class. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"25\" height=\"16\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg?resize=25%2C16\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14544\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-01.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"427\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-01.jpg?resize=427%2C640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-149056\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-01.jpg?w=427&amp;ssl=1 427w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-01.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 427px) 100vw, 427px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Shelby Sorgenfrei receives the Leadership Award from steering committee member Sarah Brooke Bishop.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-02.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"371\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-02.jpg?resize=640%2C371&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-149057\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-02.jpg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-02.jpg?resize=300%2C174&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>The 2025 Class of Junior Leadership.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-03.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"371\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-03.jpg?resize=640%2C371&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-149058\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-03.jpg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-03.jpg?resize=300%2C174&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>2025 Junior Leadership Class with steering committee members and program sponsor Roberts Wilson.\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Oxford Lafayette Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce 26 graduates of its 2025 class Junior Leadership<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":149057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[31815,31821,31826,31801,7880,31823,31816,31819,15600,31825,31800,31810,1096,31817,31812,31822,4,1135,31811,31820,25696,31827,31824,31818,31813,31814],"class_list":["post-149055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-aiden-green","tag-anna-reed-perry","tag-avery-bell","tag-casa-of-north-mississippi","tag-chamber-of-commerce","tag-collier-smith","tag-dee-hankins","tag-elizabeth-mclellan","tag-erin-smith","tag-hugh-wilson","tag-junior-leadership","tag-kaylee-wilkinson","tag-lafayette","tag-london-gregory","tag-luly-beauchamp","tag-olivia-cate-sherman","tag-oxford","tag-oxford-high-school","tag-prince-willams","tag-riddhi-nautiyal","tag-roberts-wilson","tag-sawyer-ward","tag-shelby-sorgenfrei","tag-simeon-maiden","tag-william-bouldin","tag-zach-brummett"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Junior-Leadership-Program-02.jpg?fit=640%2C371&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149055"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149059,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149055\/revisions\/149059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}