High School 9th & 10^th Grade Leadership Program

Importance: Our youth are not just leaders for tomorrow they are leaders for today. It is our responsibility to train foster and promote their leadership skills today. Twenty four youth were enrolled in the McCreary Central High School Gifted and Talented Leadership Program.  The program was a collaborative effort between the Girted and Talented program and the Cooperative Extension Service.

Educational Program: Extension coordinated with the Gifted and Talented to plan the program. Monthly programs were planned from September through May. Due to inclement weather and school schedule only four sessions was held. Day one was a general orientation and various team building/leadership exercises. Day two was presented by an Eastern KY University Leadership presenter, Day three was Local Government/Community Involvement.

The final day, State 4-H Specialist Rachael Noble, using the Kentucky 4-H Promoting Productive Teens curriculum. The four overarching themes for the workshop were: organizational skills, communication skills, leadership skills, and professional skills.

Role of Extension:     Extension met with Gifted and Talented Coordinator to plan program and select topics, recruited speakers and hosted programs at the Extension Office

Impact:

A series of questions were asked on a survey at the end of the program.

1. What did you learn in the program?

            100% - Leadership skills

            100% - Getting Involved in Your Community

           93.3% - Team Building Skills

           93%  - of youth learned how their personal values impact the commitments they make

            93%  - realized the importance of communication when working in a team environment

             86%  - recognize that their perception of the world impacts the way they lead others

            86%  - organized their skills into a career category

            80% - Local Government

            79% - understand the value of non-verbal communication skills

             65%  - internalized what type of leader they want to be 

             65%  - related their skills to careers of interest.  

            60% - Habits of Highly Effective Teens

            47% - realized how their values impact how they prioritize their time

   2. Did you learn anything about yourself in the program that you did not realize about yourself?

• What careers best fit me.                                
• My creativity and my true potential                           
• Yes, I have many qualities of a leader.                                   
• I learned that I would be good at law.                                    
• I am a leader and I know how to lead.                                    
• I can work well in a group and I'm an okay leader.                            
• I realized that I am a decent leader.                            
• I learned that I am a really good leader.                                 
• My specific leadership skills.                         
• I can be a leader in a group.                            
• The characteristics that I had of a leader                                
• I learned that I am suited to my preferred career.                              
• Personal values I chose over others. 
• I've learned that I work well with a team and that people value my opinions in decision making.   

3. Did participating in the program increase your leadership abilities?  100% Yes  0%No

4. On a scale of 1-3 with 1 being a little and 3 being a lot how much did your leadership skills

    increase?           0% 1                13%  2             87%  3

4. Since participating in the program have you accepted any new leadership positions?       Yes 60%  No 40%

5. Would you recommend a friend attend the program? 100% Yes  0%No

6. Since being involved in the program have you become involved in any Community Activities?   Yes 53%         No 47%

7.What did you learn in the program?

• Leadership skills, team building, etc
• About how leadership is used in communities.         
• How a leader should behave                          
• How I, as a teen, may help my community
• Many skills in learning how to be a good leader.                               
• Leadership skills, government, team building skills                           
• Leadership skills among other important skills.                                 
• Leadership skills and team building                            
• What being a leader is about.                                     
• Help out community.                          
• Why you should get out in the community as a leader. Leadership, how local government works, how important it is to get involved.                                   
• I learned that leadership is hard if you make it hard and community involvement is important.    
• I learned that this program is very efficient in developing skills that I didn't know I had.    
• I've learned several leadership skills that I utilize every day. 

 Evaluation Method: Participants were given a written survey at the end of the program.