The problem

Fairdale High School is a school located in the JCPS school district. The school's demographic is made up of 33% Hispanic/Latinx students. The FRYSC at the school reached out to me to see if I could provide some type of programming for Hispanic/Latinx Students at the school. Upon speaking with some students I learned that they had the potential to use their leadership skills in a positive manner but they didn't know how. The needed guidance and also wanted to create a safe space for Hispanic/Latinx students on campus to be involved in. 

The educational program response

Upon meeting with the FRYSC and students I decided to invite Patrice Thompson to be a part of this program and together we decided on using a 4H curriculum along with adding additional leadership development skills. Together we were able to train 5 student leaders to create the program "El Brillo Atraves de Mi Cultura (the spark within my culture)". These students then recruited more students to be a part of the program. They used the Hispanic Night event to promote and recruit students using the skills that they learned from the leadership training. 

The participants/target audience

The target audience are Hispanic/Latinx students at Fairdale High School that don't already belong to a group. We also want to include students that may be getting in trouble due to a lack of guidance. Some of the students identified have the potential to become leaders in their community, but they act out due to not feeling involved or using it as a coping mechanism. The program aside from providing leadership development and cultural competence skills is also going to be used as a safe space to appreciate everyones heritage/culture. 

Other partners (if applicable)

KSU 4H and CRD partner with JCPS Fairdale High School to create this initiative, which will be the schools first ever Hispanic/Latinx Student Union Group.  

Program impact or participant response.

We just started the program and have provided introductions, expectations, and desired outcomes. Additionally to the leadership development aspect, we also want to use this program as a recruitment tool for the Juntos Program in Jefferson Co.