Youth need an understanding of diversity, inclusivity, and multiculturalism in their daily life that they are not experiencing in their predominate monoracial rural communities. Percy Jackson said, “Our differences are our strengths, not our weaknesses.”  During the Youth Educational Series, the youth participants experienced guided activities through the eyes of one of the largest nongovernmental employers in our country, exposing personal cultural filters empowering the youth’s potential to be influential in forming a positive perception of people, places, things and their futures as community changers. 

In rural counties of Kentucky, youth often have limited to exposure to the diversity of the world.  They rarely see the possibilities for future careers because so many of our brightest students move away and never return to their rural roots.  The Youth Educational Experience allowed youth to see diversity beyond their communities and experience career possibilities from youth in their counties who are now employed by one of the largest domestic employers.

Twenty-one adult mentors traveled with the twenty-nine youth for this educational experience of a lifetime nurturing positive connections between the youth and adults, building trust as the youth discovered career and life opportunities.  The youth were able to identify over 180 careers they experienced in one day, in one themed area with the majority of those not available in their local communities.  One youth experienced an interpreter for the hearing impaired and inquired how she got connected with her job in Orlando.  The youth noticed the natural diversity with people from all over the world employed by their nationality listed on their employee nametags. Another youth said the experience and the destination's success is because of their appreciation of diversity; its inclusivity draws people because they feel connected. They feel appreciated and valued allowing the destination to generate almost $90 billion in revenue.  This diversity only works if there is a sense of teamwork in the organization.  One youth recognized teamwork in how employees managed upwards of 100,000 guests in times of special events or at the end of the night the smooth run machine, “it worked because every employee worked together.” 53% of the participants agreed that the workplace would be an intriguing place to begin or have a career.  As a result of participating in this Youth Educational Experience program, all participants believed they could now recognize leaders in their community, career path or their areas of interest.

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