The Illinois Directors of Student Activities (IDSA) is an organization focused on empowering students and teachers alike to participate in their school community. The IDSA hosted its annual Student Leadership conference at LT on Friday, Oct. 24. According to LT interim activity director Kris Costopoulos and IDSA President Ashleigh Malec, this conference has a large impact on LT and beyond.

“As the current IDSA President, my role is to ensure we have a comprehensive day planned for our student participants,” Malec said. “The IDSA Board works as a cohesive group where we all have our own strengths and ideas and work together to ensure our mission of cultivating leadership and relationship skills among students is the focus.”

LT has a long history with the IDSA student conference, as they have hosted the conference every year it has been held, Costopoulos said. Hosting this conference is a large undertaking, as many students attend the annual event. Traditionally, LT limits attendance to 600 participants, but due to an increase in demand, the limit was increased to 700 this year. These 700 students belong to about 40 high schools across the state, all of which fill the NC gym facilities on the 24th. 

“We will have two professional speakers, our keynote, Jim Love, and our breakout session, Lucca Petrucci,” Malec said before the event happened. “Both are very dynamic and passionate about empowering students to find their voice through leadership.”

The themes of student empowerment were continued through the breakout sessions, which included presentations, followed by sharing ideas and concerns within their school’s community. These small group settings lend themselves to building connections with other students, Costoplous said. It’s in these connections that students compare and learn new ideas that they can incorporate into their own school community. Many schools have similar events, but the implementation can vary, and bouncing ideas off of students with different backgrounds is vital.

“We are asked what’s good and what can be improved on [at our schools],” Nadija Neskovic ‘26 said. “Based on that, for example, trying to improve school spirit, we then share in small groups, whatever needs improving or what works best, and then share out. We talk about events such as Homecoming and football games.”

At LT, students are selected to represent their school if they participate in the school’s Student Council, Lions Den, or other interested groups. These students are chosen because of their ability to be influential in their school community. 

“That’s when you can see student leaders [being the ones to say] ‘Hey, guys, knock that one off,’” Costopoulos said. “All it takes is one or two kids to step up and say something’s wrong, and it makes all the difference. Because you know there’s a million more who don’t want to do it, either, but aren’t comfortable. The right thing is not always the cool thing. But it’s the right thing to do. They step up [in] little ways like that.”