Students tried to de-escalate a tense situation involving a homeless man who refused to remove his possessions from a storefront in this immersive training simulation at the police academy. Photo by Mary Jo Brooks

A small business owner has called the police because a homeless person set up a tent in front of his store and won’t leave. When the young officers arrive on the scene, they know they need to treat everyone with respect while defusing the tense situation. “I thought it was going to be easy, but when I was supposed to react, my mind went blank,” says Nahom Amanuel. But Amanuel is not a police officer—he’s a rising sophomore at DSST Green Valley Ranch. And the situation wasn’t real—it was part of an immersive video simulation at the Denver Police Academy.

Outgoing Dist. 8 City Councilman Chris Herndon shares a laugh with students during a visit to the Denver Police Academy. Photo by Mary Jo Brooks

Amanuel was taking part in Northeast Denver Leadership Week, a summer program that is designed to teach leadership skills, improve financial literacy, and expose high school students to a wide variety of careers. The program was started 12 years ago by District 8 City Councilman Chris Herndon just one month after he was sworn into office. “When I was campaigning, I realized that Denver youth weren’t aware of all of the opportunities that Denver had to offer. I wanted to help change that.”

Since then, the weeklong program has served more than 600 youths from diverse backgrounds. It takes five months of planning by Herndon and city council staffers and costs roughly $15,000, with funding coming from mostly local businesses. The camp is free for all students.

Now that Herndon is leaving office in July because of term-limits, the future of this popular program is in jeopardy. “I’m hoping this program will continue, but it’s unclear what will happen after I’m gone. There’s a shortage of youth leadership programs at a time when they’ve never been more necessary,” says Herndon.

DSST Green Valley Ranch rising seniors Quentin Newbern and Anela McCowin learn about teamwork during their visit to the Denver Fire Academy. Front Porch photo by Christie Gosch

Each day of Leadership Week, the students board buses to travel to various locations throughout the city to learn first-hand about careers in police and fire departments, businesses, the medical field, and non-profit organizations. This year at the Denver Fire Training Center, for example, the students hauled heavy hoses, put out a car fire, and learned about teamwork. During their visit to the Junior Achievement Finance Park, students role-played being adults while making decisions about family budgeting, banking, and investments. A trip to Denver International Airport exposed students to a variety of jobs, from working at concession stands to air traffic control duties.

Herndon says the main focus of the program is cultivating leadership skills and letting young people see how many opportunities are available to them.

Tech entrepreneur Emile Nkwagoh says the program completely changed his life. When he took part in the program as a high school junior in 2016, he had recently moved to the United States from Cameroon. “Leadership Week exposed me to so much, especially as an immigrant child. It helped me decide what career path to follow. It’s why I’m now an IT professional.” Nkwagoh was awarded a computer at the end of the camp, and the program also inspired him to apply for–and be awarded–a spot in the city’s public safety cadet program, which paid for his undergraduate degree at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Nkwagoh is now pursuing a master’s degree there in cyber security. “Many of the leadership skills I have today started that week when we met with leaders from the city,” says Nkwagoh. “I learned that leaders care about the people that work for them as much as they care about the people they serve.”

Students sat inside a Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) van and learned about Denver’s innovative program to send mental health specialists instead of police officers on certain emergency calls. Front Porch photo by Christie Gosch

Students who participated in this year’s Leadership Week were equally enthusiastic. Quinten Newbern is a rising senior at DSST Green Valley Ranch. He hopes to use some of his newly acquired leadership skills at school by serving as the president of the robotics club. He’s also appreciative of the financial skills he learned as he thinks about college and beyond. Newbern says it was especially helpful to role-play at Finance Park and listen to the real-world experiences of former Broncos lineman and Superbowl champion Ryan Harris. “He talked to us about his experience with money and a rocky patch he went through. It was good to learn about that because school doesn’t teach you about money,” says Newbern, who also enjoyed Harris’ advice about the importance of being accountable. “He said you have to have the mindset of ‘I am. I can. I will.’ That was inspirational.”

Participants in NE Denver Leadership week spend several hours at Denver International Airport learning about a variety of jobs—from airport concessions to working for a major airline. Photo courtesy of Northeast Leadership Week

Anela McCowin, another rising senior at DSST Green Valley Ranch, was also inspired by Harris. “He wanted to help us learn how to be financially responsible. He didn’t sugarcoat anything.” She says the overall program helped expand her ideas about leadership. “Leadership is putting yourself out there. It’s speaking out on behalf of others. This program really gives you an insight into what real leadership means.”

The program also tries to teach youths about empathy and how to make a difference in their community. They heard from people who work with domestic violence victims at the Rose Andom Center and from members of Denver’s Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program, who respond to 911 calls to help people who are experiencing a mental health crisis. At the police academy, students listened to police officers describe some difficult moments on the job. The immersive simulation with the homeless man gave students an enhanced respect for some of the complexities of police work. Student Nahom Amanuel says the simulation showed how hard it can be to think quickly on your feet in a stressful situation. “It made me realize that police have to deal with this daily. It made me appreciate the patience that officers have to have.”

NE Denver Leadership Week offers high school students the chance to visit some of Denver’s largest employers, like this trip several years ago to an Excel Energy facility. Photo courtesy of Northeast Leadership Week

“Leadership week is all about connections. Kids connecting with each other. Kids connecting with leaders in the community. Kids connecting with what is possible,” says Herndon. In a post-pandemic world where so many youths feel isolated and alone, Herndon says those connections matter. “The fact that all of these adults take time out of their day to talk to them is meaningful to our students. It shows that they matter. Because I do think at times they wonder how much they are valued by society.”