2025 Quaker Youth Leadership Conference

Six upper school students represented MMFS at the 2025 Quaker Youth Leadership Conference, an annual event that brings together students from Quaker schools across the country. Every year the Friends Council on Education hosts this conference for students to engage in discussions, workshops, and activities that promote leadership development and community building, and that explore Quaker values, principles, and practices. Seniors Lola W., Nkechi I., Henry A., and Matthias C., junior Zuri D-L, and sophomore Beatrix G. traveled with Quaker Life Faculty Sponsors John Keenan and Cordelia Larsen to Durham, North Carolina for this year’s conference, “Reconnecting with our Roots: Quakerism and the Environment.”  

Day One of QYLC 2025 began with a guided tour of our host school, Carolina Friends School, which was founded in 1962 out of a desire to create a racially integrated school. We learned how the school’s integration mission attracted the attention of the Ku Klux Klan, which dynamited the site of the lower school. Despite the attack, the school carried on and flourished.

In the evening, we were treated to a performance by the artist Caique Vidal performing Afro-Brazilian music. Vidal explained that performing Samba, a musical style and dance originating from enslaved Africans in Brazil, is a form of resistance against oppression that uplifts and celebrates Blackness. Nearly all students joined him onstage to dance alongside their peers. 

On Friday we explored Durham with students from other schools, making stops that focused on sustainability and environmental activism in alignment with this year’s theme. Our group traveled first to the Museum of Life and Science, which runs a conservation program to repopulate the endangered red wolf species. Students also caught glimpses of the museum’s black bears and lemurs.

We next visited the Hayti Heritage Center, which promotes cultural understanding and preservation of Black heritage. The site coordinator spoke of the center’s history and connection to the district once dubbed “Black Wall Street” by Booker T. Washington. 

In the afternoon, we visited Broken Spoke Farm, a small, family-operated organic farm. The students learned about sustainable agriculture and got to meet a family of sheep, including what is possibly the cutest lamb on the planet. They were also treated to homemade soft-serve ice cream, a highlight of the trip for everyone. Moreover, we were blessed with sunny 70-degree weather throughout the day!

Back at Carolina Friends School, students participated in a workshop led by the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL). They learned about the legacy of the environmental justice movement in North Carolina and the inequitable impact of industrial agriculture on the local working class, primarily Black populations. At the end of the workshop, the students wrote letters to their members of congress advocating for greater funding for green energy and a just transition from fossil fuels.

The night ended with a high-energy talent show, featuring student and faculty musical performances, spoken word poetry, comedy, and the annual performance art piece staged by our very own MMFS cohort: “Human Bowling.”

On the final morning, the students participated in workshops with their peers while the adult chaperones spent time networking and sharing reflections on Quaker practices in our respective schools. We ended the morning with a powerful all-conference Silence, in which dozens of students (including Henry and Nkechi) spoke about the impact of the conference and of their renewed interest in Quakerism. 

We  are very proud of this year’s Quaker Youth Leadership Conference cohort, and we know that this is an experience they will carry with them for years to come.