HPU Hosts 12th Annual Youth Leadership Academy for High School Students
High Point University and the High Point Police Department (HPPD) kicked off the 12th Annual Youth Leadership Academy on June 15 for 24 high school students from across the Piedmont Triad. Students were pictured at the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena on the academy’s first day.
HIGH POINT, N.C., June 18, 2026 – High Point University and the High Point Police Department (HPPD) kicked off the 12th Annual Youth Leadership Academy on June 15 for 24 high school students from across the Piedmont Triad.
The academy provides opportunities for the local teenagers to develop their leadership skills and learn more about assisting the community. Each summer, HPU partners with the HPPD to co-host and support the two-week academy, which brings together 10 school resource officers and high school student leaders from 13 schools.
“I think it will help me expand my knowledge when it comes to being a leader, volunteering and community service,” said McKenzie Kushner, a rising ninth-grade student at Penn-Griffin School for the Arts. “It will really help with college and job applications. I also feel like it will help us to create bonds with one another.”
HPPD school resource officers selected the teenagers for the competitive spots in the program. The officers considered leadership qualities and academic grades when they were selecting the students to participate in the academy.
Participants will build their leadership skills while completing service projects and activities at organizations around the city of High Point. They also toured the HPU campus and learned more about leadership from guest speakers from the university, the police department and the community.
“It’s always a pleasure to welcome the HPPD Youth Leadership Academy to our campus and spend time with such impressive young leaders,” said Lyndsey Ayers, HPU’s vice president for university relations. “The conversations they have about leadership, character and service help prepare them for success far beyond the classroom. High Point University is proud to partner with the city of High Point and invest in the next generation of leaders who will make a difference in our community.”
The summer academy teaches leadership skills and exposes youth to opportunities across the state, said Jacob Passmore, school resource officer for Welborn Middle School, Johnson Street Global Studies and Kearns Academy in High Point.
“We’re pushing them out of their comfort zone and past their limits,” Passmore said, noting that students will take part in zipline and whitewater rafting challenges. “A lot of things we take them to, they didn’t even know existed. It broadens their horizons, opens their minds to more opportunities and builds their resumes.”
Kyler Garrison, a rising junior at T. Wingate Andrews High School, said he aspires to become an engineer and hoped to tour HPU’s Webb School of Engineering while on campus.
“This camp is going to make me know what being a leader really means, and that will help me later on to apply to any job I get,” he said.
Students will participate in the following activities while in the academy:
- Helping with a beautification project at Welborn Middle School
- Playing laser tag at Kersey Valley
- Traveling to Hanging Rock State Park for waterfall and climbing activities
- Volunteering at the Salvation Army in High Point
- Taking a tour of Fort Bragg
- Traveling to the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, for challenging activities
- Visiting with residents at Brookdale Retirement Center
- Swimming and collecting trash at High Point City Lake Park
- Taking part in activities at the HPPD and Fire Training Academy
- Playing kickball with police officers at Truist Point, the High Point Rockers’ stadium