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In the middle of June, the Athens County Foundation (ACF) hosted a summer youth leadership workshop including nine high-school aged emerging leaders from Athens County to explore our new program, provide feedback, and engage in their own leadership journey. Modeled after our flagship Leadership Athens County  (LAC) program, Leadership Athens County Youth (LACY) is an eight-month place-based education program for emerging and not-yet-identified leaders of high-school age. Aimed to build a sense of pride in Athens County and Appalachia, introduce core leadership competencies, initiate personal transformation and mastery, as well as prepare emerging leaders to collaborate, innovate, and participate in existing networks. As part of our commitment to co-creating programs and solutions, Athens County Foundation launched this three-day summer workshop to gather feedback and test logistics.

The workshop started out with a mini-retreat and introduction to the program where we took part in team building activities and heard from our strengths and leadership coach, Lauren Borovicka of Authentic Insights, LLC,  LAC Class of 2016. After lunch delivered by Donato’s  pizza, we went to the Dairy Barn Arts Center outdoor patio to hear from local leader exemplar, Mary Nally of OHIO University’s Center for Community Engagement , LAC Class of 2014 about her unique leadership journey. Finishing out the day, students learned the importance of documenting a journey and the variety of ways one can process those thoughts.

With everyone more comfortable with each other, the second day in Chauncey opened bigger conversations around Appalachian culture and history, communication skills, learning through play, and shifting narratives in storytelling. We heard from Village of Chauncey  Mayor Amy Renner about the history of Chauncey and how the community is adapting and innovating to usher in the future of outdoor recreation as we toured the new bike path extension from the Chauncey Community Park. The cohort took this time for a brief detour to visit the Baileys Trail System and read the Storybook Trail that is a partnership with Athens County Public Library. Finally, we finished the morning with just plain fun at the new community park playground equipment.

After lunch from Eclipse Company Store , we dove into a writing prompt inspired by Kentucky Poet Laureate George Ella Lyon about realizing where one’s from is more than just a place – it’s experiences, textures, smells, and memories. Then students were eager to hear from Brandon Thompson of Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program , DJ B-Funk, and community event planner, LAC Class of 2020, share his leadership journey as an exemplar. Capping off the day, we used our creative juices to create paper quilt squares that reflect the mosaic of our cohort.

On the final day of our workshop, we visited the Federal Valley Resource Center in Stewart, Ohio. The cohort started out revisiting some of the team building activities with additional challenges built in. We discussed the improvement that happened from the first time to the final time and how relationships build trust and communication that ultimately make outcomes better. Excitedly we heard from Mallory Swaim of Mathews Insurance , LAC Class of 2022 share the dozens of groups and activities one can get involved with to build capacity within communities, and how a single volunteer can impact large systems and make connections between organizations. Our leadership competency for the day focused on project and time management and how teams prioritize tasks within a larger project.

Lunch was delivered from Park’s Place and fueled the cohort for the final afternoon. Reflecting on challenges and issues that affect them, we completed the circles of influence activity to understand where folks may or may not have control, and how they might have influence and how to utilize those resources. This was put into action immediately as the cohort problem solved how to retrieve a toy that was stuck from lunch-time games. They were successful!

Then we took time to hear from one member of their own cohort, Nelsonville-York Junior Claire Abraham, founder of the nonprofit the Kathyrn McCoy Resource Project. She shared that you didn’t need to have all the answers or know exactly what to do but when you see a need you’re called to make a difference.

As we closed out the workshop, our closing circle and debrief we were grateful to receive a wealth of feedback from students including how eye-opening this experience was. The consensus was that visiting these different locations, eating local foods, and hearing from local leaders was “really cool.” Another student shared that they felt more confident expressing what they see as needs to be addressed. A third student shared how helpful it was to see leaders who spoke about doubt, uncertainty, and joy in their own leadership journey. One student said that their biggest take away was that they didn’t need to wait to be an adult to make a difference and be a leader.

While staff have some minor adjustments to make, overwhelmingly, participants shared their optimism and excitement for the full pilot launching in October 2023 and many committed to being a part of it.

If you’d like to learn more, please reach out to me!

Dani Esperanza, Program Director

“I am from…” Poem 1 by LACY 2023 Cohort

I am from waking up to the smell of
Nan‘s fresh baked bread.
I am from quarantining and those masks
that created a familiar odor after a while.
I am from family reunions at the lake filled with people
I’ve never seen before who swore up and down
that they know me and I just didn’t remember.
I am from glorious pains of turf burns after winning a soccer game
From sweet corn bread warm from grandma’s oven, dripping with butter.
I’m from long days, a warm old house, burgers on the grill, and
football on in the background at all times.
I’m for Popsicles on the porch in the evening bare feet on the wood,
and hands sticky with juice, only let back in once we had finished.
I’m from the flashlights, illuminating the halls of The Ridges
From the lit-up streets of Uptown.
I’m from telephone poles as far as the railroad track goes,
the smell of a freshly mowed lawn.
Mountains, hills, trees, and grass, an old gas station,
closed, long-ago.
People, and things passed I’ll never see again.

“I am from…” Poem 2 by 2023 Youth Cohort

I am from paper clips
From RadioShack in McDonald’s.
I am from the big red brick house,
Old, hot, loud and full of family.
I am from monstera,
large, green, and smooth.
I am from Thanksgiving feasts shared together
and from blue-eyed and full of hair.
I am from the Averys and the Coltrane’s
From “Buck up!” and “Don’t talk to strangers.”
I am from a cross tall on the hill and
no beliefs because spirituality is sticky – complicated.
I am from Athens County. Coal towns, bricks
and freedom through learning.
Buckeye candy and paw paws.
From broken bones and bruises on the playground
And the Friday night family movies.
In a glass door hutch, memories saved
to pass on proud heritage.

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