Maine West Senior and Junior Leaders were host to a leadership conference, "Ladder to 'Leadership," on Saturday, January 11. There were about 33 schools from Chicago and surrounding suburbs in attendance. There were over 500 girls attending.

Miss June Thompson, Maine West sponsor, stated, "The purpose of this leadership conference was to provide an opportunity for leaders from various schools to share ideas and to develop a greater awareness of problems confronting our society today."

The schedule for the convention was arranged so that each leader could attend two out of eight discussion groups.

Each of the seminar topics had a professional speaker. The topics and speakers were as follows: "Drugs and Teens," Mr. Jack Miller from Waukegan High School; "Group Dynamics," Mr. Glen Shuermann, assistant superintendent of Cook County Public Schools; "Inner City Crisis," Father Riordan, St. Agatha's Parish, Chicago; "Majoring in Physical Education," a panel discussion involving Dr. M. Clark, Wisconsin State University, and Miss Kaye Pierce, Maine South Physical Education Department.

Other seminars were "Mental Retardation," Mrs. Delilah White, administrative director of the Julian D. Levinson Research Foundation; "Morality Today," Mrs. Mary Jane Snyder, public relations director of Planned Parenthood Association; "Pitfalls of Leadership," Mr. Eldon Burk, dean of boys at Maine West; and "Problems Faced by College Students," Miss Rebecca Walch, assistant dean of student personnel at the University of Illinois.

There were two demonstrations: one in C‑wing gym and the other in the auditorium. C‑wing gym featured a demonstration of gymnastics given by Mss Sandy Wachs. In the auditorium a demonstration in self-defense was led by Mr. Herb Parsons, Sterling Morton Upper Grade Center, and by Miss Joyce Albrecht from Maine South.

Lunch was a buffet served by the Maine West Senior and Junior Leaders in the cafeteria.