(Image Credit: Jett Schwaier/CHAT News)

By Jett Schwaier

MEDICINE HAT PUBLIC SCHOOL DIVISON

VIDEO: The Horizons Leadership Conference displayed the importance of leadership to students

Feb 27, 2026 | 11:36 AM

Students from across Medicine Hat gathered at Crescent Heights High School on Thursday, Feb. 26, for a day focused on leadership, resilience and community building, featuring Christene Lewis and Scott Hammell.

The Horizons Leadership Conference brought students together from Grades 5 through 12 for student-led activities, with senior students serving as masters of ceremonies, and the guest speakers delivered their presentations.

Organizer Heather McCaig said the annual event is designed to help students recognize their leadership potential and step outside their comfort zones.

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Lewis, an international author and speaker, focused on resilience and accountability while emphasizing the importance of youth having a voice in decision-making and leading with character and compassion.

“One of the most important [messages] that I say is your impact must always be greater than your intention,” Lewis said.

During the opening statements of the conference, a power outage occurred, giving students the chance to display their leadership, to which Lewis was impressed.

“Just being able to spread the positive word with the students and leadership, like the power went out today, the students were able [to] show their resiliency. That’s what leadership is,” Lewis said.

“The fact that everybody was willing to pull out their cell phones and just light up the way. One of the students was actually really scared to walk down the steps in the darkness, so we had people that followed her all the way down,” she added.

“They lead with their heart. Kind of just who they are as a character and their values.”

Hammell, a magician and motivational speaker, addressed the importance of staying calm under pressure.

“My presentation is called A Stuntman’s Guide to Staying Calm, and I talk, probably the most effective technique that I share about that is pulling yourself into the present moment,” Hammell said.

“So instead of dwelling on the past or catastrophizing the future, you’re best able to solve problems and not spiral when you’re in the present moment.”

Hammell used the power outage to underscore the value of composure in challenging moments and highlighted the strength of today’s students in problem-solving and collaboration.

“I would say that the students these days are incredibly resilient, also the speed at which they’re able to diagnose and start to look at solving problems is incredible,” Hammell said.

“One of the things that they’re able to learn effectively is just how many people can be involved in solving a problem,” he added.

“This is a skill set that many of these kids really are exposed to and understand in a really profound way.”

Both speakers said leadership is most effective when it is shared and rooted in service to others.

McCaig said the guest speakers play a key role in reinforcing messages about goal-setting, resilience and personal growth, with many students often reflecting years later on specific presentations that helped shape their paths.

Grade 12 students Delilah Oaks and Hailey McCaw served as emcees, guiding the audience through the day’s programming.

The pair said emceeing the event was nerve-wracking but rewarding, giving them a chance to model confidence and connect students from different schools around a shared vision of leadership.

McCaig said Crescent Heights High School welcomes parent involvement in the leadership program, which runs from Grade 7 through Grade 12, and aims to continue building capacity among youth in Medicine Hat for years to come.