|
|
Youth Programs Train Tomorrow’s Leaders
| Name | Eleanor Jones | | Situation | Often during the summer, youth in York and Cherokee Counties spend many hours unsupervised and without structured activities. This leaves them at risk for getting into trouble. Many parents have expressed a need for productive summer activities for their children. Few organizations in York or Cherokee Counties offer youth training in leadership, citizenship, money management or entrepreneurship. Skills in these areas can help youth become productive, contributing, and competent members of society. Extension has established research-based youth curriculum such as Jr. Palmetto Leadership and Mini-Society which meet these needs. They provide training for agents in effective use of the curriculum.
| | Response | The County agent worked with the local Optimist Club in York County to set up a Jr. Palmetto Leadership Day Camp. Youth learned about characteristics they needed to develop to become leaders. They also learned about the history of their county and its influence on the county’s development. The program included learning about the cultural aspects of their environment and special places of interest in the county as well as learning about the economic characteristics. The highlight of their experience was their opportunity to participate in service learning. One group volunteered at a local center for the homeless. Youth helped workers at the Center with a redecorating project by stripping off old wallpaper that was badly in need of replacement and helped clean out and organize the donation closet. Another group assisted with Meals on Wheels and then visited with seniors at the Center. There they helped with games and entertainment for seniors.
In Cherokee County, the agent offered a Mini-Society Day Camp. Youth set up their own mini-society, complete with a flag they designed, a currency system they developed, laws and rules they made, and their own businesses. They learned about money management, how to write checks and manage a checking account, marketing and the steps to setting up their own business, basic economics, how citizens shape their own society through city/county councils and how to make informed decisions.
| | Impact | York County Jr. Palmetto Leadership had 17 participants (5 days of programs with 14-17 people each day). All seventeen completed a service learning project. All participants could identify things learned and 16 could identify how they planned to use the information in the future.
The Mini-Society program had 9 participants (5 days of programs with 7-9 each day). All 9 could identify things they learned and six could identify how they planned to use the information in the future. All 9 showed an increased ability to put the information into daily practice as they conducted their businesses and citizenship activities.
|
Last update8/17/2007
This website is maintained by Shana C. Sellars.
|
