Monday, high school seniors from around the county gathered to build leadership skills.

Youth Leadership Bartholomew County was made up of over 200 students from Columbus East, Columbus North, Columbus Signature Academy, Hauser, as well as home schooled students.

YLBC, which has been giving students skills to be a leader for more than 25 years, is presented to students late in their junior year that have high GPAs.

Students that choose to participate must sign a letter of intent, write an essay, a resume, a biography, complete an interview and have their photo taken by Parker Portraits. The process leads up to a day long event where speakers guide discussion about leadership qualities and how students can become better leaders to their peers.

The scores of the essay, resume and interview combine to allow scholarships to be awarded during the event, with scholarships for the top three essays, the top 10 student scores with all three elements combined, and “pop-ups”, given to students who stand out in discussion throughout the day.

This year, East seniors received six awards at YLBC.

Alex Galle and Rebecca Smith were awarded scholarships for writing perfect essays.

Bryn Eudy, Katie Emmert and Kira Singer were awarded scholarships for placing in the top 10 students overall, placing tenth, fifth and fourth, respectively.

Maddie Albright received one of two “pop-up” scholarships for her participation in the event.