Officials from Pearl River County are making strides to empower our future leaders. This past Saturday I covered a teen male summit held at the Raine Street Center in Poplarville. The summit was held in efforts to mentor teenagers and bridge the gap between county leaders and the young people in the community. The open forum allowed teenagers to have their voices heard while also giving them a chance to hear from several county leaders, who touched on various topics such as peer pressure, career advice, religious values and college readiness.

It’s great to see community leaders stepping away from their desks to help today’s teenagers, who are tomorrow’s leaders. As I listened to their stories, I was even inspired by the tales of their struggles, lessons learned and their hard work to become successful in their community.

Poplarville Police Capt. Rossie Creel spoke about how he didn’t let his night in jail as a teenager define who he was and began a career in law enforcement soon after. His goal was to encourage teenagers to be the best version of themselves.

Marcus Jordan, a former local high school football coach, spoke about the power of peer pressure and told teenagers they shouldn’t be afraid to make the right choice in order to rise above negative influences they may face.

It’s so important for the older generation to reach out to our teenagers, especially in a small community like Poplarville.

This summit was a step in the right direction towards bringing the community closer together and opening the lines of communication.

Teenagers need as much guidance as possible as they reach adulthood and city leaders need to remember the people they serve. It’s important for everyone in the community to work together to build a supportive environment that allows the city to grow in a positive way.

Only by working together can we move mountains.

More county leaders should pay attention to the community’s younger generation so they too can become a catalyst to influence them to become our strong leaders of tomorrow.