A couple weeks ago, I had the privilege of spending the day with sixty eight-grade future leaders, along with their teachers and counselors, at the 1st Annual Lehigh Valley Youth & Ethics Leadership Conference. Gwen Pongracz, founder of Kids of Character (and a friend of mine), created the organization with a vision of creating opportunities for character education. We had a great conferenece - including an amazing presentation by a Military Cadet on how we always have a choice in our life and we need to speak up for what is right (”your silence is your consent”, as he put it.) As well as leading a workshop on Appreciating Differences, I was kindly invited to provide the Inovcation. Here it is, below:

We are gathered together –
Young men and women, teachers and role models –
We are gathered together in pursuit of the best life we can possibly live.
We want our lives to be fun, to be meaningful,
We want our lives to help others, and to help build a better world.

I invite everyone here to take a moment to think about everyone that brought you to this moment
In your life,
Everyone that makes you, you:
Your ancestors, your families,
Your friends, who give you support and encouragement,
Your schools and teachers, who help teach you things and bring you to this conference.
We all have cause to think with gratitude about all that we have been given.

And now it is up to us to make the most of our lives.
This is not just a random collection of 8th graders:
Gathered in this building today are young women and young men who
Will be some of the future leaders of the world.
Friends, the way you live your life will
Have an effect on the people around you.
The way you live your life will have an effect
On the world you live in.

You don’t have to be brilliant, or a straight-A student,
You don’t have to be popular, you don’t have to be perfect.
If you live your life with courage, with determination,
With compassion,
With a willingness to take risks to help others,
You will become a leader,
And you can help others to live a good life.

Fellow teachers, we know how daunting it is to teach,
And may the spirit of understanding and wisdom
be present to our humble offerings so that they might help a young person
In their life.
Fellow students, we know how difficult it is to learn,
And may that same spirit of understanding and wisdom help you find something in this day
That you can use in your own life.

May we all be grateful for this opportunity to be together today,
May we all enjoy ourselves and have fun,
And may we live the best life we possibly can

Amen