Recently, Nolan Ayers and Sara Ketchale, LHS Class of 2021, attended the Hugh O'Brian Youth (HOBY) State Leadership Seminar at Bentley University in Waltham, MA.  Ayers and Ketchale were joined by 224 other high school leaders from across the state of Massachusetts. Nolan is the son of William Ayers, Jr, and Susan Ayers, and Sara is the daughter of Bethany Ketchale.

HOBY is an organization dedicated to training and nurturing the young leaders of tomorrow. Its mission is to provide lifelong leadership development opportunities that empower youth to achieve their highest potential and gain knowledge of leadership skills.

Each spring, the Massachusetts HOBY Leadership Seminar hosts sophomores from public and private high schools who have been selected to convene for one weekend to recognize their leadership talents and to provide them with the tools to becoming effective and ethical leaders. Student participants (known as HOBY Ambassadors) take part in hands-on activities, hear powerful presentations from innovative and passionate speakers, and explore their own personal leadership skills while learning how to lead others and make a positive impact in their community. 

LHS Guidance Counselor, Emily Connelly, explained a small committee of LHS staff selected the two students representing LHS, stating, “Nolan and Sara are strong leaders in their class and are very involved in the LHS community. There is no doubt their participation in this program will only strengthen their positive contributions to LHS and the Ludlow community.”

Ayers is the President of the LHS Class of 2021, is a three sport athlete- LHS football, baseball, track and field, and is a member of SALT (Student Athletic Leadership Team).  In addition, he was an attendee at the 2019 Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference and is a member of the LHS Leading Lions.

Ayers said he was honored to be selected to represent Ludlow High School, stating, “The experience afforded me the opportunity to learn about myself as a leader and the ability to take what I learned back to his school.”

Ketchale is a 2021 LHS Class Representative and was elected for a 3rd year to the LHS Student Council. She participates in three sports- LHS JV soccer, captain of the LHS swim team and managed the LHS girls softball team. In addition, she also has a passion for the arts and is a member of the LHS chorus; having been chosen for districts this past year. 

Ketchale was also honored to be chosen to attend this seminar, sharing,  “It was an amazing experience and opportunity that I was grateful to be given. I learned so much about how to be a great leader in many different areas, and I’m excited to bring the skills that I learned as a leader to our class and student council as a whole.”

“I met so many new people and made so many friends, it was truly an experience that I’ll never forget,” added Ketchale.

Ravi Patel, 2019 Leadership Seminar Chair, said this year's seminar was an incredible weekend packed with enthusiastic young leaders who learned how to have a positive impact on their community.

"They learned about their Personal Leadership styles, how it applies to Group Leadership and finally how they can translate it all into Societal Leadership," explained Patel. "Each part of the program consisted of inspiring speakers along with hands-on activities which allowed the opportunity to hear from others' experiences and engage with one another to learn invaluable leadership lessons." 

LHS Principal, Lisa Nemeth, explained that many LHS students have attended HOBY programs over the last several years. “Sending our students to this organization is an excellent way to support the values we promote here at LHS- acceptance, empathy, appreciating diversity and lending a helping hand to those in need, to name a few.”

“With the knowledge and experience they gained during the seminar I am confident that both Sara and Nolan will be role models to promote our positive school culture,” said Nemeth.