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DSA/SLC-The Student Leadership Team
The Distinguished Service Awards (DSA) and Student Leadership Council Awards (SLC) and are given to a total of 42 students each year. The most outstanding and most dedicated of all the SLC and DSA applicants are chosen to serve a one year term of leadership with the GPA. The GPA Leadership Team is the youthful voice of GPA representing the abstinence message in communities and bringing fresh ideas and themes to GPA events, as well as, leading, speaking, and performing at GPA events across the state. The recipients of this award travel to Washington D.C. for a week of intense leadership training and sight-seeing.
As the GPA grows, so does the number of exceptional applications we receive.--GPA Director/State Coordinator, Gail Dignam
2006 DC Leadership Trip Photos
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I am the president of the Teen Choices GPA club. I am also on the Student Leadership Council for GPA. Abstinence is very important to me. I practice abstinence because I am saving myself for my future wife. The best gift I can give her on our wedding night is my virginity. Sex is not something that should be done with just anyone. It is my personal belief that sex is something that only a husband and wife should share. However, abstaining from sex is easier said than done. I needed a support group to help me keep my promise.
Teen Choices is that support group. My GPA club has had a profound impact on my life. I remember the first GPA meeting I attended. I was sitting there wondering, what is GPA? What do you do in GPA? As the meeting continued, I learned that GPA is a program of opportunities, opportunities to make an impact and stand up for what’s right. I had quite a few expectations when I became involved in GPA. I am pleased to say that GPA not only met my expectations, but exceeded them.
I have been in GPA for four years now. In these past years, I learned valuable information about sexually transmitted diseases, leadership skills, and much more. Last year, as a leader on the Student Leadership Council, I had the privilege of leading camps, conventions, and other events with about 40 other teenagers. At the beginning of the year, we went to Washington D.C. to begin our training. Since I hardly knew anyone, I was pretty shy at first, but in about two months I felt like I had known the team all my life. As the year progressed, the bonds between us got even stronger. We became more than a team, we became a family. This is my second term on the Student Leadership Council, and I am proud to say that we are a very strong team. Through the Student Leadership Council, I have gained a greater appreciation for the GPA and its essential message. GPA has given me many exciting ways to spread the abstinence message. Through skits, public service announcements, PowerPoints, fundraisers, and many other forms of expression, I have been able to successfully present the message of abstinence to my peers, my community, and my state.
To sum it up, GPA has made me a better advocate for abstinence by giving me a support group, helpful information, and ways to spread the message of abstinence. Through this program, I have also made many new friends and they have strengthened my character. I truly owe a lot to the Governor’s Program on Abstinence and to leaders like GPA Director Mrs. Gail Dignam.
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From the Leadership Team...
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This is my third year on the leadership team, and the experience continues to get better. No year is ever the same, and as the team spends time together, we become stronger as individuals in our resolve to maintain an abstinence lifestyle. The leadership team is an awesome support system, and being a member is an experience like no other.--Lance Frank- I am extremely honored to be chosen out of the many nominees. This opportunity means the world to me. I get the chance to represent all of GPA! I get the chance to draw hundreds of teens to the abstinence lifestyle. I am the example and I have the opportunity to change the world!--Mary Beth Barrack
- Being on the GPA Leadership Team means having a new group of friends who believe in the same virtues I do. We hope to spread the abstinence message in a fun, unforgettable, and meaningful way.--Kaitlyn Holmes, SLC
- I am extremely honored to be on the Student Leadership Council. I have held many leadership positions before ,but this position is certainly the most interactive. I am looking forward to helping out with GPA projects and participating in this year's activities.--Benjamin Giuffria
- This is such a huge honor to me because I choose to stay pure and make a difference. I strive to be a role model to my peers, so this club is a great way to help me do so. -- Lauren Carroll
- I'm super-excited about the upcoming year as a member of the SLC/DSA team! Having a chance to lead others in the abstinence message is such an honor; and I know that it will be a fun, excitement-filled year.--Megan D. Sullivan
- As a member of the new leadership team I was nervous going into a situation where most of the other people knew somebody. When I fell and busted my knee one week before the trip. I was even more nervous about going. I was on crutches and worried about being a burden. Turns out that all the other DSA and SLC kids were ready to help me in wahtever I needed. It was great!! On the trip we bonded and it's just sooo cool! We had a great time. The worst part was ending the trip!!!--Casey Connell
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