Fifth-grader Skylar Harvin skillfully performed a choreographed handshake with her dad, George, in between sessions at the second Education Matters, "Are You Ready to be Grown" Conference.
The handshake was a reflection of how laid-back, but detailed the conference was as more than 250 students and parents visited various classrooms to learn about the best things to embrace in life, as well as the negatives to stay away from.
"I've learned to embrace myself and what I am on the inside," Skylar said.
Love for self was one of the topics for students Saturday at the USC Aiken Business and Education Building. Other topics included learning how to handle responsibilities, deal with peer pressure, take pride in appearance, and control behavior when faced with a difficult situation.
Meanwhile, parents learned about money management, watching for the signs of a troubled child and several other topics.
In one of the sessions, class leader Errol Thomas spoke to students about their ability to make choices based off of information and looking at the outcome.
"It comes down to choices," Thomas told students. "You have to have the desire to make the right choices, the knowledge of how to and the will to follow through."
Thomas was one of nearly 30 class leaders who led workshop sessions throughout the day. Those leaders came from all walks of life in the workforce, including Charles Barranco, chief of Aiken Public Safety.
Barranco told kids that he's made his fair share of mistakes in life and wasn't always dealt the best hand. But still, he was able to persevere and make the best life he could because he assumed responsibility for his actions.
"You're ultimately responsible," Barranco said. "Who you hang out with, where you go... all these things are decisions that you have to make and these are things that shape who you turn out to be."
Education Matters founder Donna Moore Wesby added that the event has built off of the strength last year's first ever conference. This year, various vendors provided food, beverages, backpacks and other items for students.
"We just want to teach kids that they shouldn't rush through their youth," Wesby said. "Adulthood comes with a lot of responsibility and getting the tools you need to be successful takes time."
Derrek Asberry is the SRS beat reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the paper since June 2013. He is originally from Vidalia, Ga., and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Follow him on Twitter @DerrekAsberry.