Local student Lindsay Gaar represented Lake Charles at the Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. last month.

As a student at Bishop Noland Episcopal Day School, she holds several leadership roles. She is a member of the school’s Mighty Mu District Math Team and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

She participates in competitive soccer, basketball, swimming and cross-country. She plays center back on the CSC Eagles soccer team.For her performance and leadership on the team, she was honored as a top 10 soccer player in the state of Louisiana in their division. She also plays basketball, and said that her role is to ensure her teammates are “working their best at practice.”

In addition to her academic and athletic accolades, she is an Episcopal Day School song leader and lecter at her school chapel and church services.

Gaar will be entering the sixth grade this August.

She was nominated by her social studies teacher to attend the conference.

The Junior National Young Leaders Conference is a “unique academic and career-oriented development experience” hosted for fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students to garner leadership experience.

Jan Sikorsky, vice president, Education for Envision, said in a release that Gaar’s participation allowed her to “meet, work and collaborate with fellow high-aspiring students” from across the country.

“The Junior National Young Leaders Conference is a wonderful opportunity for ambitious young students to explore their interests outside the classroom and discover how to innovate and think creatively through hands-on immersive learning,” she said. “Our students are challenged with real-world simulations and problems, working together to develop unique solutions and projects to bring life to their studies and career interests.

Gaar plans to become a pediatrician. The conference aided in developing the leadership experience she will need to actualize that dream.

“Communication and being a good listener are leadership skills for being a good pediatrician,” she said.

She had a wonderful time at the conference, she said.

“I met kids from all over the country and had a great time sightseeing.”

Her favorite part of the conference was listening to Chaunté Lowe give an address. Gaar found her story inspiring.

“Chaunte Lowe is a bronze medalist American high jumper who never gave up on her dream even though she got diagnosed with breast cancer. ”

When asked about the skills she developed at the conference, she highlighted activities that taught her collaboration and communication skills.

“I learned how to help people engage in the activity, how to work with new people to create a project, how to change my perspective to help them with a different point of view and to effectively communicate with U.S. Congressmen.”

At the conference, she developed a resolution on healthcare, which included an action plan to create a campaign to generate funds for hospitals and health care centers.

She presented her idea with a colorful display and sent her resolution to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.