Middle and high school students from schools throughout Southside Virginia came together Friday to celebrate active citizenship. Longwood University hosted the 2016 Student Citizenship Summit and welcomed not only student guests, but experienced speakers, including C-SPAN staff, a Scholastic editor, Longwood professors and Washington, D.C., attorneys.

Students from Buckingham, Cumberland, Prince Edward, Amelia, Mecklenburg and Brunswick counties public, as well as private schools, attended.

Longwood President W. Taylor Reveley IV welcome the students, who then listened to Virginia Secretary of Education Dr. Dietra Trent speak. Trent encouraged students to become involved in the political process during her speech titled “Educating for Citizenship in the 21st Century.”

“The beginning is right now,” she said, encouraging students to engage in political discussion at home and at school and telling the teens to take their skills into the world. “Registering to vote is not enough. Embrace the power of your own voice … you represent the responsibility for the future.”

After Trent’s speech, students broke up into smaller groups and attended various sessions, including a visit to R.R. Moton Museum and listened to a speech by University of Richmond President Emeritus Dr. Edward L. Ayers, who is also Tucker Boatwright Professor of the Humanities. Ayers spoke about moving history forward and “a historical call to action” for young citizens.

Students had the opportunity to tour the C-SPAN’s Campaign 2016 bus and learn about the network’s event coverage and web offerings, which include 200,000 hours of archived video from as far back as 1987.

Other speakers touched on information such as the “Call Me Mister” program, using digital media to share stories, teamwork in the work force and ethical decision making.

The student summit was one of many events taking place in the days leading up to and celebrating Tuesday’s Vice Presidential Debate at Longwood.