Grayson to Share Lessons
Make no mistake. Trey Grayson remembers Holmes High School well.
As a junior at Dixie Heights High in the late-'80s, he dropped 17 points and 17 rebounds on the Bulldogs -- his best game ever -- and learned two lessons in the process.
Focus and determination are the keys to everything from sports to academics to life, even when you're the underdog as the Colonels were that day.
There is victory in the effort, even when you lose the game.
These are also part of the message Grayson will bring to Holmes on Saturday, when he will be the keynote speaker at the annual Covington Youth Summit on leadership. The all-day event brings together about 100 seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders from Covington Independent Schools.
The basic tenets of leadership have served Grayson well, as he's ascended from public school in Northern Kentucky to Harvard's school of government, to UK law school, to his current role as Kentucky secretary of state.
At age 34, he is the youngest secretary of state in the U.S.
"I thought I'd relate some of my own experiences, and how much young people can do, with so many opportunities to exercise that leadership," Grayson said Thursday.
"The transition in middle school, it's a difficult age because they're advancing at different speeds," he said. "School's harder, social life is getting harder, some of them have jobs. When you overcome obstacles, it can help you gain confidence."
Grayson, who lives in Richwood in Boone County, also acknowledged that young people today are not always receptive to polished speakers telling them to buck up. This is particularly true in urban areas such as Covington, which is plagued by crime, homelessness and economic disadvantage.
"Kids in general are jaded, they're cynical, there's a hard shell," the Edgewood native said.Grayson will lead the students in an interactive discussion of leadership - a topic on which few could offer more insight.
Grayson graduated in 2000 from Leadership Northern Kentucky, and Leadership Kentucky two years later. He is also a founding member of Legacy, a young professional organization in Northern Kentucky. As a youth, he was active in the Governor's Cup academic competitions, which led to his induction in the Kentucky Association for Academic Competitions Hall of Fame.
When he ran, and won, in his first shot at political office in 2003, Grayson became the first Northern Kentuckian to be elected to an existing statewide constitutional office since 1919.
Saturday's Youth Summit begins with registration at 9:45 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. following Grayson's speech. Workshop sessions will be led by community leaders, including volunteers from Covington Partners in Prevention and Legacy.
"Partnering with key community leaders is essential to the growth of our youngsters," Covington schools superintendent Jack Moreland said. "The Youth Summit provides the ideal venue for Covington's future leaders, our students, to learn from and with local leaders."