Episode
The Future is Bright: Inside the Arising Leadership Program
- Podcast
- The Valley Today
- Published
- Jun 10, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1357
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
"I didn't even know there was a radio station over here." That sentence — or some version of it — came up so many times on this episode that it became the unofficial theme. On a special episode of The Valley Today recorded on the first day of the Top of Virginia Regional Chamber's Arising Leadership Program, host Janet Michael sits down in the studio with 16 high-school participants and program director Missy Spielman to talk about what brought them to the program, what surprised them about radio in particular, and where they think their futures might be headed — from anesthesiology to architecture inspired by Minecraft. You'll meet rising juniors and seniors from John Handley, Millbrook, Sherando, Clarke County, and James Wood, hear what each one is hoping to get from the week-and-a-half-long career exploration program, and find out which of them might be the next architect, anesthesiologist, attorney, dentist, sports broadcaster, business analyst, or — Janet's lobbying hard — radio station part-timer. Missy closes out with what she saw from the very first orientation: a group that walked in quiet and reserved, and within ten minutes were swapping numbers, ignoring school rivalries, and learning to network in the most authentic way possible. THE ARISING LEADERSHIP CLASS The 16 students featured on this episode, in interview order: • Owen Parker — Millbrook High School, rising senior • Lucy Gluszak — John Handley High School, 12th grade (returning as an intern after participating last year — now interning at the Winchester Regional Airport) • Sam Donohue — Clarke County High School, rising junior — interested in law • Emily Ramirez — Sherando High School, rising senior — interested in healthcare and agriculture • Cole Stockli — Millbrook High School, rising senior — in…