Within our city school system, we have three different elementary schools.  Each of these schools is very diverse in many different ways.  Once these youths reach the middle school all students from the three schools come together.  School teachers and administrators noticed that the youth rarely branch out and get to know other students from different schools.  Because of this, the gifted and talented teachers at each of these elementary school reached out to the McCracken County 4-H Agents to develop a leadership program for fifth grade youth identified with leadership skills.  With this program we hope help develop and improve the communication, teamwork, and leadership skills of the youth involved.  We then hope that these students will use these skills to reach out and bring their classmates at the middle school together once they begin school again in August.

During our time together, the youth were assigned a pen pal from a different school and spent time getting to know one another.  On training days youth were encouraged to spend time with students from other schools.  On the first day together, youth focused on teamwork.  Youth had to overcome the challenge of working with people who were different from them and who they didn’t know.  Youth participated in a variety team building throughout that day.  During the next training day, our focus was on communication.  Youth participated in many activities to help build this skill such as an activity called Team Minefield.  During this activity youth were asked to lead their blindfolded partner though a minefield.  This was challenging for the youth, they really had to think about what to say and how to say it in a way that would help them successfully lead their partner through the minefield.  On the last day of training, students from Western Kentucky Community and Technical College as well as Paducah Middle Teen Ambassadors came to lead discussions on teamwork, communication, and leadership.  Students from Clark, McNabb, and Morgan Elementary asked these students a variety of questions that they had about middle school and college.  The Teen Ambassador club members, who are also 4-H members, lead the fifth graders in a teambuilding activity before they left. 

This program provided an opportunity for these fifth-grade students to enhance their leadership skill and help prepare them for middle school.  These students will also be helping to facilitate some leadership activities at the transition night later in May.  This program is for all fifth graders in the Paducah City Schools to visit the middle school and meet other students.