The Teen Leadership Academy and Leadership Lewis County were two programs designed to help teens obtain leadership skills. In Lewis County there aren’t many programs designed specifically to teach leadership skills so this program was designed to teach what leadership is and leadership skills. Youth who participate in leadership development opportunities are exposed to a variety of opportunities for personal development.  Leadership activities help develop confidence in one’s leadership potential and sense of identity, improve self-esteem, enhance communication skills, help with the ability to relate to others, and learn group social skills. (Unlock Your Leadership Potential: A Leadership Project Guide, University of Florida, IFAS Extension, 2009) 

The Leadership Academy was a multi-county effort and Leadership Lewis County was a county program.  Both work hand in hand to encourage teens to participate in leadership education and to continue to participate in a program where leadership skills and knowledge are gained.  The Leadership Academy attracted teens to the 4-H program and taught them the leadership skills they were wanting to acquire. Leadership Lewis County gave teens the opportunity to continue learning leadership skills and to use the skills and experiences they had acquired.  These skills would be used to help conduct programs for youth and to serve in leadership roles such as junior counselors at camp. 

Over the last two years 12 teens from Lewis County age 14-18 have participated in the Leadership Academy and all 12 continued to participate in Leadership Lewis County.  Educational experiences included touring the Governor’s Mansion, touring channel 27 WKYT in Lexington, ziplining at Black Mountain, visiting Cumberland Falls State Park, teambuilding skills, touring Maysville Community College, touring the Bank of Maysville, touring Inland Composites, and touring Maysville Vocational school.  Some members also attended the Kentucky 4-H Volunteer Forum.  Participants learned about how government operates, communication skills, teambuilding skills, and they learned about how industry and government work together and how industry can positively affect the community.  They also learned how to face uncomfortable situations and working outside of their comfort zone.  The 4-H agent acted as a facilitator, and collaborated with the Youth Services Center of Lewis County and with other county 4-H agents.  

Evaluation information was acquired by sitting down and talking to the teens that participated in the program to see how they felt they had benefited from the program and by observation.  The teens reported that they had grown as an individual.  They reported they had gained communication skills and that the most important thing they gained from the program was socialization skills.  All agreed that they had changed and improved their socialization skills and were better able to socialize with other people in many ways.  Parents also reported back that the program had helped their child gain confidence in themselves and to be more social. Through observation it was observed that teens put into practice what they had learned by  helping to conduct programs such as Reality Store, Cupcake Wars, and a three day summer program called Summer Sensation.  In Reality Store teens helped man booths and advised participants.  In Cupcake Wars teens acted as judges.  They judged the contest and told the teams what they needed to do to improve their baking skills. They used communication skills to determine what the team did to make their cupcakes and then provided feedback on how to improve their cupcakes. This was done through verbal communication and then through a score sheet.  In the Summer Sensation program teens taught classes such as etiquette, stretching and relaxation techniques, and lead sports activities.  Teens also have served and continue to serve as camp counselor at 4-H camp where they are responsible for a cabin of youth, help get them to classes, make sure their cabin is clean and assigned duties are completed. They also help assist with teaching camp classes.