Owen Doane, a sophomore at South Portland High School, was chosen to attend Maine’s annual Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership conference this May.

The conference, which will be held on the University of Maine at Farmington campus, is specifically designed for high school sophomores and allows the participants to take part in hands-on leadership activities.

In addition, conference attendees get the chance to meet state leaders and explore their personal leadership skills while learning how to make a positive impact in their community.

The goal of the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership program, first founded in 1958, is to inspire young people to become catalysts for positive change and to live a life dedicated to leadership, service and innovation.

Doane is the son of Jim and Beth Doane, who are both educators. Jim Doane teaches science and math at Scarborough Middle School, while Beth Doane is a guidance counselor at Yarmouth High School. He also has an older sister, Paige, who is now a sophomore at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass.

Doane, 16, credited his teachers for “seeing my potential and pushing me to do my best,” while also thanking his parents for “being supportive of everything I do.”

This week Doane spoke with the Current about the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership program, along with his plans for the future.

Q: How did you hear about the leadership program?

A: The school put on the announcements that there was a leadership program accepting applications from sophomores and my home base teacher told us all that this would be a really great opportunity.

The application requirements included writing a short essay explaining how and why we would benefit from attending the annual leadership conference.

Q: Why were you interested?

A: I’m the president of my class, so attending the conference seemed like a really great opportunity to strengthen my leadership skills and bring what I learned back to my school in hopes of sharing with others how to be influential leaders in our community.

Q: What do you hope will come of the experience?

A: One of the fundamental values of the program is to inspire people to make positive changes and give back to their community. Our class has many hard workers who may not feel comfortable putting themselves out there and getting involved, both in the school and in the community. I hope to learn ways to get more people involved in areas where they feel they can contribute.

Q: What other activities are you involved in at school?

A: I play trombone in the jazz ensemble, jazz combo, wind ensemble and marching band. I also sing with the chamber singers, act in the musical and am involved with the Interact Club and the French Club. And, this spring, I will play tennis.

Q: It’s a little early yet, but have you thought about college and what you might like to study?

A: My mom is a guidance counselor so naturally I’ve been looking at colleges early. I probably want to major in music, but whether it will be in performance, education or composition, I’m not sure.

Q: What is your favorite subject in school and why?

A: I enjoy chemistry because it’s challenging but it also makes a lot of sense when you really dig into it.

Q: What do you like to do for fun?

A: I’ve recently gotten involved in playing trombone in the orchestra pit for community theater productions and high school shows in the area, which I really love. I also enjoy skiing, biking, cooking and hanging out with friends.

A sophomore at South Portland High School, Owen Doane is looking forward to the upcoming Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership conference, which will be held in May at the University of Maine at Farmington.