Mississippi State University will hold the 15th annual Dr. Donald Zacharias Leadership Conference Feb.  6-8, 2015.
Natalie Jones, codirector of the conference, said the conference will highlight personal leadership skills, promote organizational skills and raise communal global awareness among high school students.
“We want to take high school seniors and juniors and help them be critical thinking leaders,” Jones said.
Jones said each year the conference progressively adds more dimensions. In the past, the conference was held in a single building but individuals said they wished they moved around more.
“We will be holding the sessions in different locations including Lee Hall, McCool and Sanderson,” Jones said.
According to Jones, Sen. Sally Doty, Kristi Edmonds (communication professor), Taylor King (SA committe), Stan Buckley (Pastor of Colonial Heights) and John Cohen (MSU Baseball coach) will all be featured speakers at the conference.
“We have about five sessions that are going to be centered on empowering the students being practical leaders,” Jones said.
Jones encouraged MSU students to inform their high school junior and senior acquaintances about the conference and student sponsorship opportunities.
“If any businesses, students, alumni or parents want to assist in helping pay for the students’ education, contact us about donating to the conference,” Jones said.
 Holly Travis, co-director of the conference, said the focus of the program is in the state of Mississippi, but students from any region are welcome to attend the conference.
“Right now we have about 50 students attending the conference, and we have a lot more working on the applications,” Travis said.
Travis said there are 36 freshmen at MSU who are assisting in organizing the event and will be working as table leaders during the conference.
“We have several different sessions, for instance sessions on communication skills and leadership skills,” Travis said.
Travis said not only will students listen to lectures, but they will get an opportunity to mock the skills, work on their own projects, turn their ideas into realities and compete for a scholarship.
“For the first time we created a scholarship opportunity for the students,” Travis said.
Students attending the conference will submit an essay, and eight finalists will be selected for an interview. Out of the eight finalists, two students will receive a scholarship to attend Mississippi State University, Travis said.
“Our conference is not just about teaching, it’s not just a to-do list,” Travis said. “We teach these things and then immediately put them into the situation, having to apply the knowledge.”
Stephen Hensley, senior aerospace engineering major, said high school alone is not good enough for education, since at school students can learn academics but lack the skills that they may require for the rest of their lives.
“Having an opportunity to communicate and see people first hand with real world knowledge and skills is what will last longer than schooling,” Hensley said.
According to the MSU Student Association website, the conference fee was $75 from Nov. 17 – Jan. 16, but late application has since been increased to $90.