WARREN - Middle and high schoolers from Youngstown and Warren attended the 4th annual IMpower Youth Conference at Kent State University - Trumbull Saturday, Feb. 21 to participate in enrichment activities as well as learn about physical and mental wellness.

The event was hosted by Inspiring Minds, a youth education group that hosts after-school programs across the Mahoning Valley that handle tutoring, college visits, and exposure trips, among other activities.

Students learned about college careers, financial literacy, and art. They also learned about topics such as Black history, entrepreneurship, music, and performative dancing.

Program director Carl Diggs says the event gives children the opportunity to learn about their communities.

"Also to give them a space where they can feel comfortable, be able to ask questions about different things," he said.

Diggs adds that the students learn about local politics as well.

"We can teach them the basic, simple politics; If you have issues of trash on your streets, who do you reach out to?" he said.

Diggs says he enjoys helping children make decisions about their future.

"Any aspect where we can have them grow is gonna put them in a better situation to do well in life," he said.

The event featured keynote speaker Erica Booker, an educational consultant, whose keynote message to the students was titled "Becoming the G.O.A.T."

Booker says her goal is to help students become the best version of themselves.

"Oftentimes, because social media is what it is, it keeps us from humanizing people and humazing experiences," she said.

Booker, who is a Warren native, says she is proud to speak for the community she grew up in.

"Opportunities like this allows you to pour into students at different levels, at different contexts, and allows them to literally begin to find themselves within their community, outside of their community," she said.