Schools
Lincoln Avenue Student Attends World Leadership Forum
Harrison Bench part of select group traveling to Washington, D.C.
Fifth grader Harrison Bench, a student at has been accepted into the People to People World Leadership Forum.
Bench will join a select group of students in Washington, D.C., from Sept. 26 to Oct. 1 to study leadership and explore some of the United States’ prominent monuments and institutions.
From Capitol Hill to the Smithsonian Institution, historic Gettysburg to the National Museum of American History, Bench will examine the characteristics of American leadership during times of national challenge and prosperity.
Forum delegates will also participate in small-group discussions and exercises to experience firsthand how successful leaders develop strategies, make decisions, build consensus and foster change. The Keynote Speaker is General Colin Powell.
Bench was accepted based on outstanding scholastic merit, civic involvement, and leadership potential. He was recommended by his fourth grade teacher, Ms. Closs, said his mom, Lindsay Bench.
Find out what's happening in Sayville-Bayportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"Harrison is involved in the student government in his school," Lindsay Bench said. "Last year he was the vice president of the school and this year he is running for president. He is interested in history and politics. He is also a Peer Leader in his school -- a peace works program that he got accepted into and trained for last year. He will help students resolve conflicts this year."
The program is coordinated by People to People Leadership Programs to fulfill the vision President Eisenhower had for fostering world citizenship when he founded People to People International during his presidency in 1956. For more information, visit www.peopletopeople.com/leadership.
