YOUTH PROGRAMS

Leadership U

Overview
Many talk of a crisis of values among our youth, from the disadvantaged in the inner cities to the most privileged in wealthy suburbs. Leadership U shows us that apathy can be replaced with action if students are given the skills and opportunities to affect positive change.

Leadership U was developed in 1996 as a way to get young people involved in solving community problems as well as to train the future leaders of our county. Leadership U is a four month program and consists of several components, including:

• A week-long summer program of team building, leadership skills development, tours of county offices and identification of issues affecting youth in Howard County.
• A fall practicum focusing on community service projects that are created and implemented by the students
• A Shadow Day which provides students the opportunity to spend a day with a selected community or business leader to observe leadership in action and gain first hand knowledge on how businesses and organizations function.

Leadership U helps students entering their junior year in high school develop leadership skills by providing them with opportunities to learn by doing and by example. Students work in teams to discuss, reflect upon and develop solutions for problems that affect them and their peers in the community. They also develop mentoring relationships with adult community leaders, learn about Howard Countys government, businesses and services and hone their presentation skills.

Howard Countys Leadership U is one of only two county-wide youth leadership programs in Maryland.

Part I: The Summer Session

Days 1-2. Students attend a team building overnight retreat where students engage in problem-solving exercises to learn about leadership and team development.

Day 3. Students learn about leadership qualities and values. They may take a personality inventory test to learn about their own leadership styles and how to work with other people.

Day 4-5. Students take field trips to various county government, selected industries, and service organizations to learn about community services and issues facing our county.

Day 6. Students brainstorm about problems impacting our community with a particular focus on youth. They choose issues of importance and create teams to begin their problem-solving work. Each team has an adult mentor to help guide them through their service project. Teams may choose to solicit help from adult community leaders who are experts on the teams chosen problem.

Part II: During the Fall
Beginning in August, student teams meet with their mentor regularly (at least weekly) to design and implement their project. They may make site visits to research their assigned problem, engage in role play to better understand problems such as teen depression or living with AIDS, or meet with community leaders to explore their ideas. As a result, the student teams prepare real solutions to their chosen problems.

At the end of the program in December, each team presents the results of its team effort and discusses the process of solving community problems as a group at a graduation ceremony. The ceremony is attended by parents, school principals, Leadership Howard County participants, and civic and business leaders in the community.

After Graduation
Leadership U graduates are encouraged to remain involved in the program by acting as student mentors to new Leadership U students and by spearheading their own community activities following graduation. In past years, graduates have participated in Christmas in April, March of Dimes walk-a-thon, Symphony of Lights, and various activities for senior citizens.

For information on how to apply to Leadership U, click here.