The Douglas County Chamber of Commerce recently announced the selection of 32 students from the community to serve as the Youth Leadership Douglas (YLD) students for the 2012-2013 school year. These students are juniors in local Douglas County high schools.

Students selected were Ashley Alster, Hannah Austin, Jacob Bartlett, Aiden Boatright, Raenah Brown, John Copeland, Isatta Feika, Maddie Gibbs, Garrett Griffin, Cornelia Hall, Christina Haney, Macy Henry, Hope Hendrix, Karina Hernandez, Arianna Horton, Aaron Howard, Stacey Kloser, Lavette Leflore, Avery Maurer, Taylor McLendon, Nikki Miller, Kyle Parrott, Jonathan Perry, Maeghan Puckett, Victoria Spitler, Sydney Stallings, Chaz Wagner, Cynthia Wanka, Jasmine Warren, Gabrielle Weber, and Nia Willis.

Youth Leadership Douglas will give the students the opportunity to acquire and broaden their knowledge of not only social and business etiquette but also of local government, business and civic activities through a four month leadership program.

The program recently was redeveloped by coordinators Sara Ray of the Douglas County Chamber, and Ruby Byers of the Douglas County School System, and will provide students with personal and professional development opportunities that cater to each individual.

The program will allow students to embrace the changes of technology by submitting their assignments through various social media outlets and also to select their assignments based on their personal interests.

Students completed a competitive application and interview process and 32 students were selected from Alexander, Douglas County, Chapel Hill, Lithia Springs, and New Manchester high schools.

The program will consist of a fall and spring session. The fall class will begin its new program in July and end in December while the spring class will run from January to April of 2012.

Information: (770) 942-5022.