On Wednesday, February 26, more than 325 high school students from all across Loudoun County attended the WILD conference hosted by the Loudoun County Public Schools activities and engagement team. Held at Watson Mountain Middle School, the event helped to foster connections between high school students who share a common interest: leadership. 

The day started out by listening to the keynote speaker Joel Hilchey. Hilchey talked about the importance of leadership in high school and creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for all. Students then had the opportunity to attend different breakout sessions led by high school leaders. “I went to the Event Planning with Slime and Finding Your Leadership Style breakout rooms. Both breakout rooms were so fun and educational, but I especially enjoyed the Event Planning with Slime where we got to learn about event planning in school and make slime,” freshman Sia Nyandemoah shared. 

In between the two sessions students attended, they went to lunch in a room with people from different schools to share ideas from the day. Collaborating with other like-minded students inspired discussion for how to tackle issues student leaders were having. “In my lunch room, students were talking about how they had issues with school spirit during pep rallies. It was cool to see how strangers were coming together to help eachother out with the problems they were facing,” junior Erin Tully explained. 

Students were able to hear from the Superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools, Dr. Aaron Spence. He shared his experience as Superintendent and encouraged students to lead their schools with inclusivity.  The 2025 WILD Conference left students inspired and motivated to implement what they learned back into their schools. “Because of the conference, I was able to identify my strengths and weaknesses as a leader and am now able to implement more techniques of leadership into my activities,” Nyandemoah remarked.