FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chicago – When Mount Carmel’s varsity football team traveled to DeLaSalle High School to face the Meteors on October 6, Caravan player Sean O’Connell wasn’t with his teammates on the sidelines.

O’Connell, a junior at Mount Carmel who graduated from St. John Fisher School, wasn’t ill or suspended or anything of that nature. Actually, he was in Washington, D.C., participating in the National Youth Leadership Forum for Defense, Intelligence and Diplomacy.

O’Connell and other hand-picked high school students throughout the country took part in the one-week forum, which aimed at training the students in the areas of intelligence, government and politics. In addition to extensive training, speeches by accomplished professionals and an intensive national security strategy exercise, O’Connell and his peers were also allowed to spend many hours touring the many sites Washington, D.C. has to offer.

“One of the most exciting things about this experience is that I got to do things and see things that normal civilians can’t do,” O’Connell said. “We were in secure areas that even tourists are not allowed into.”

The main focus of the week was taking part in a national security strategy exercise, which was based on a hypothetical emergency taking place in the Congo. Each student role-played on one of the many teams that would be involved in such an event in real life. O’Connell was a media member. His peers role-played as the President, the President’s staff and members of Congress, the CIA and Senate.

“We were given all kinds of information and we dealt with events as they happened, and we tried to create a solution,” O’Connell said. “I definitely learned to respect the media. It’s so hard to keep track of everything in a situation like this. One small step of miscommunication can mess things up pretty badly.”

Keynote speakers that spoke to participants included Vice Admiral Vivien Crea, Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, Randy Cheek, Senior Fellow and Africa Analyst at the National Strategic Gaming Center, and Deputy Assistant Secretary J. Scott Carpenter, who is responsible for overseeing the Middle East Partnership Initiative and the Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative.

The forum has already had a lasting impact on O’Connell. “I really learned how outgoing I can be,” he said. “This experience forced me to become active. I was very involved and I got to know students from all across the country. I tried to meet everyone. I never sat with the same group of students at a meal.”

O’Connell also discovered some unique cultural differences, recounting a funny story in which friends from North and South Carolina had no idea what mostiacolli was. He said he already keeps in touch with seven or eight friends from the forum.

“We made some lasting friendships,” he said. “This forum really brought us close together. I was really bummed out coming home. But it’s great to be back with my family and friends, and it’s great to be back with the team again.”

Contact Information
Matt Kellam, Director of Communication
P: 773-324-1020, x245
F: 773-324-2468
mkellam@mchs.org