Step Up Loudoun 2006

Ted Leonsis, Vice Chairman, AOL and President, AOL Audience Business welcomed the more than 300 Loudoun County youth, community leaders, government representatives, school officials, youth organizations, and business leaders on hand to participate in Step Up Loudoun 2006 on Thursday, November 9, 2006 at the AOL campus in Dulles. Justin Boudreau, a nationally renowned youth motivational speaker made a dynamic and well-received presentation on making and taking advantage of opportunities, and First Lady Laura Bush sent her greetings via a video discussing the Helping America’s Youth program.

AOL partnered with the Loudoun Youth Initiative to present Step Up 2006 and has been a major partner in all Loudoun Youth Initiative activities since its inception. Step Up 2006, the Loudoun Youth Initiative's signature event, included 220 high school age youth, 120 parents and other adults, and 6 news organizations at the AOL campus, with the morning session broadcast via a URL making remote site participation available to everyone with access to the internet. There were 11 public high schools represented, two private schools, as well as home schooled youth. Representatives from the White House and the State Attorney General’s office also were in attendance.

George Mason University presented ten of their top findings resulting from a community assessment that they have been conducting for Loudoun County throughout the summer and early fall. Following a brief synopsis of the ten findings, the youth participants were able to vote for the three items they think are the most important. Youth from remote sites were also invited to vote by sending an email to an address at AOL. Following the compilation of this vote, the top five findings as prioritized by the youth were identified. Small groups were then assigned one of the top five items, and were asked to develop specific steps that can be taken in the short-term (by the end of this school year), intermediate-term (by this time next year), and long-term (by 2010) to accomplish the desired result. These steps will be incorporated into the Loudoun Youth Initiative Strategic Plan that will be one of the ultimate results from the work being conducted by George Mason University.

ACOY's Retreat 2006

This year ACOY's Retreat was held on Saturday, August 19, 2006 at Hemlock Overlook in Clifton, VA.