Hayee Hartle, of Chicora, left, a rising senior at Karns City High School, receives a gift from Amanda Fleming, college business service specialist at BC3, for graduating in the Butler County Youth Leadership Class of 2020.

BUTLER TOWNSHIP — The 33 graduates of the Butler County Youth Leadership Class of 2020 missed out on the typical graduation.

But they didn't seem to mind the scaled-back event held Tuesday.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the graduates, 2019-20 high school juniors from each school district in the county, drove the half-circle in front of Butler County Community College's Succop Theater, donned a mask and accepted a new backpack from a youth leadership board member in addition to a box of cookies from a Saxonburg bakery.

In previous years, the graduation ceremony occurred before parents and family members and included speeches by officials from BC3 and Slippery Rock University.

The backpacks contained scholarships from BC3 and Slippery Rock and certificates of completion from the county commissioners and Butler County Chamber of Commerce.

Board member Maria Malloy said the graduates receive the backpacks, sponsored by Butler Business Systems, each year during graduation ceremonies.

“We still wanted them to receive all the things they would have received if we had the ceremony,” Malloy said from underneath a blue canopy.

She said the students were able to complete three of the program's four sessions before the pandemic hit. The fourth session, at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, had to be canceled.

The students typically are required to take three of the four sessions, so the graduates still received the full youth leadership experience, Malloy said.

The first session was a team-building exercise at Slippery Rock University; the second included lessons on branding, etiquette, body language, resume writing and other leadership necessities at BC3; and the third was County Government Day with the county commissioners, during which the students participated in a lunchtime panel with individuals in recovery.

Malloy said she is glad 2020 had a graduating class, given the pandemic.

“I think we did what everyone is doing at this time and just made some adjustments to keep everyone moving forward,” she said.

Haylee Hartle, a Karns City High School student from Chicora, said she is glad she participated in the program.

“It seemed like a good opportunity, and it sounded like fun too,” she said.She said the participants met for the first time at Slippery Rock University, where they traversed a team-building course and met in small groups to get to know one another.“I was unsure of meeting the other kids, but we worked really well together and all had a lot of the same ideas,” Haylee said.Youth leadership, she said, will help her as she pursues a business degree and enters the working world.“I'll be more comfortable with people, and I'll use these skills when I go to college,” Haylee said. “It will help me in my career.”Jadeyn Snow, a Knoch High School student from Clinton Township, agreed with her classmate.“I've always been shy growing up, and as I've started to come out of my shell, I wanted to sharpen the skills I didn't know I had, but everyone else did,” Jadeyn said.The future sociology and possible law school student said upcoming juniors should consider participating in youth leadership.“If anyone wonders if they should do it, they should because you never know what potential you have or who you could meet,” Jadeyn said.Steven Green, a Butler High student from Center Township who wrestles and plays football, joined the program to improve his leadership skills for his career and as an athlete.Steven also enjoyed the team-building activities in the program's first session.“It will help me work with other people and communicate better,” Steven said.He plans to study to be a civil engineer after graduation and thinks the youth leadership program will give him a nice head start.“It was a very good experience and I recommend it for anyone,” Steven said.Malloy said the program typically is introduced to sophomores at the end of each school year, which cannot be done this year due to the pandemic.She said upcoming juniors can contact Jordan Grady, executive director of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce, if they are interested in next year's youth leadership class.“Hopefully, we can restart normally in 2021,” Grady said.He can be reached at jordan@butlercountychamber.com.

Steven Green, a rising senior at Butler High School, receives a gift from an administrator at Butler County Community College for completing the Butler County Youth Leadership program.