Teen participants laud youth leader program
Leaders of tomorrow learned skills to help them today in the first Butler County Youth Leadership program.
Participants in the inaugural program will receive their completion certificates during a ceremony Tuesday in Founder's Hall at Slippery Rock University.
“I personally think they have grown so much as high school juniors,” said Amanda Fleming, a board member for the program. “You can see how much more mature they are and how confident they are.”
Fleming said some students also will see their first scholarship opportunity stemming from the program.
Ruth Purcell, director of the Butler County Community College Foundation, will be there to award $500 scholarships to any of the youth leaders interested in attending the school.
In addition to promoting Butler County schools through partnerships with the community college and Slippery Rock University, Fleming said the program also encourages the students to return to Butler County to pursue careers.
“Now they have all those connections with the various school districts that participated,” Fleming said. “We hope that no matter where they go to school that they come back to Butler County where they live and work and become driving members of the community.”
Autumn Trempus, a junior from Knoch High School, said her favorite part of the program was meeting other youth leaders from different schools around the area. She said the first of the four activity days helped with the mingling.
“I didn't know those people at all before,” she said. “By the time we were done, I knew them a lot better, and I met some new friends.”
Autumn said her mother, Amy, who was involved with Butler County Leadership in the past, was her inspiration for joining. She said she's glad she joined the program because she took away valuable experience and skill development.
“Leadership skills and qualities are important in anything you do,” she said.
Nathan Ellis, a junior from Butler High School, said he liked meeting new people, but he liked meeting himself, too. He said the program helped him develop his sense of who he is as a leader, especially through one activity that color coded the leaders' personalities and skills.
“I found out I'm a green, which means I'm creative but also objective-based,” Nathan said. “Everyone can be a leader. It really depends what type of leadership you possess.”He said his favorite activity was visiting the Butler County courthouse.“We got to go all the way up to the top and see the inside of the clock tower,” he said.Nathan said the program also will look good on his college application, and it could look even better if he returns to work in Butler County.“I think if the Butler County Youth Leadership program gets the recognition it deserves, it will carry a lot of weight,” Nathan said.Stan Kosciuszko, president of the Butler Chamber of Commerce, said he was excited to watch the program that was modeled after the chamber's own Butler County Leadership program, which is for adults, and run by former alumni of the adult program.“It's a huge deal,” Kosciuszko said. “I think it's something that the community is very proud of.”Kosciuszko said the program's organizers could not have asked for a better inaugural class of leaders.“These students are exceptional,” Kosciuszko said. “The people that complain about the youth of today need to sit in on one of these sessions.”Fleming said the board deems the program's first year a success.“We're really proud of the first year and how it has evolved,” Fleming said.
