Lowry Leadership hosts another successful NASC Regional Conference

Lowry Leadership hosts another successful NASC Regional Conference

By Alexis Galarza Posted December 16, 2022

NASC stands for the Nevada Association of Student Councils. The state-wide organization oversees all leadership classes in the state. NASC splits Nevada into three regions, the Northern, Southern, and West. Each region hosts a conference. For the last three years, Lowry Leadership has been hosting the Northern Regional Conference. This conference allows for every single school in the northern region to come to Lowry to attend workshops that help create future leaders. 

Kelly Zhelayev is on the state board as the Northern Region Representative. Along with Zhelayev, Ruben Garcia is also on the NASC board. Garcia is the NASC president, meaning he essentially oversees every single school with a leadership program in Nevada. Garcia, Zhelayev, and the entire leadership class put countless amounts of effort and hours into preparing for this conference. 

Garcia was in charge of the conference Lowry held last year when he was the Northern Region Representative. 

“The preparation for the Northern Regional Conference this year was an extremely long process,” said Garcia. 

To prepare for the conference there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work in the leadership class takes on. 

“There are a lot of tedious tasks that take place while planning and executing the conference,” said Garcia. 

This year there were no COVID-19 restrictions so Lowry Leadership had complete creative freedom when executing the Harry Potter theme. 

“Ms. Topholm and I started planning for the conference over the summer,” said Zhelayev. “Then we started working on it in leadership after homecoming, so for about three weeks with additional hours spent outside of school we were planning it.” 

Zhelayev spent countless hours preparing for the conference, whether it be practicing speeches or making decorations. 

“The bulk of preparation for the conference went into gathering everyone’s gear, as well as planning and coordinating, then creating the decorations with the help of the leadership class,” said Zhelayev. “I also practiced my welcoming and closing speeches during the general sessions of the conference.” 

Garcia plays a big role on the state board as the NASC president. 

“Being the NASC president is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it is a huge honor to hold this position and I wouldn’t have been able to get here without the support of my advisor and the leadership team,” said Garcia. 

Being on the state board is not an easy task, but Garcia and Zhelayev execute it with grace. 

Besides being on the state board, Zhelayev loves being a student leader here within a smaller community. 

“I highly value the connections that I make with other aspiring leaders during leadership events,” said Zhelayev. 

After months of preparation, it brought great joy to Zhelayev to see all the northern councils come together. 

“My main highlight from the conference was giving the closing speech in the last general session,” said Zhelayev. “From the podium, I was able to see all of our Northern councils seated together on the bleachers, exhilarated after a long day of leadership activities, and the atmosphere felt truly connecting and inspiring.”