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About Youth Leadership Hendricks County
The Opening Retreat
We set the tone for the entire class year with a two-day session in which participants get to know each other, discuss the goals for the year and learn how to build a team that can work together effectively. We use a variety of informative (and often entertaining) instruments to help them better understand their own strengths and challenges, as well as how to work with people whose strengths and challenges are different.
State Government Day
The Indiana Statehouse is the site of a day in which the class interacts with the legislators who represent Hendricks County and discusses current issues and opportunities. Participants learn about (and observe) the legislative process. Lunch includes enjoyable and informative lessons about etiquette.
County Government Day
The class visits the Hendricks County Government Center to develop a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities of local government leaders. Each is presented with scenarios that provide practical insight into what happens in the various offices and what impact those offices have on the lives of everyday citizens.
Economic Development Day
Participants get to see Hendricks County from a different angle as passengers in small airplanes. Prior to boarding the planes the students are allowed to develop a piece of property with the guidance of leaders who daily make these decisions. They form a mock planning board that will rule on the rezoning of their property. Whether they portray the developer, local school administrator, or even a nervous neighbor, they gain a better understanding of how the process addresses all viewpoints and the complexity of government decisions.
Helping Hands Day
Participants learn about the different ways people from various generations view matters and approach work. Then, they're divided into family groups with specific challenges. After brief presentations by several social service providers, the groups identify which providers can best address their challenges, and meet with them to see what happens to real-world Hendricks County families in similar situations.
Business, Industry & Agriculture Day
Hendricks County has a remarkably diverse business community, and this day is devoted to learning about the many types of businesses in the county. From large farms to small manufacturers to the ever-growing retail presence, they develop a better understanding of the challenges each business faces.
Quality of Life Day
Victims are trapped in a serious car accident, and several local fire departments cooperate to extricate them. The demonstration is one of the many ways class members learn how the county's police and fire departments work together. The driver who caused the accident is taken to the county jail, where students eat the same lunch as inmates while discovering the startling challenges associated with housing offenders and protecting the community.
Closing Retreat
This single-day session represents the end of the program, but it's just the beginning of the participants' future community involvement. They'll reflect on the events of the year and how they'll use their new knowledge. They make a presentation about what they gained from one of the class days. Afterwards, they'll join their parent and school administrators for a graduation ceremony.
Application process:
We are now accepting applications from students entering their Sophomore year for the Youth Leadership Hendricks County (YLHC) program. They must be received by April 13, 2012. Applications can be downloaded from our website and mailed to Leadership Hendricks County, PO Box 7, Danville, IN 46122.
About Youth Encouraging Philanthropy (YEP)
The focus of our YEP program will be to conduct a philanthropic project together as a group, and a “leadership” aspect to the program. We will present topics we feel are educational opportunities that we can provide that they may not receive in the standard school setting (i.e. interviews, etc)
Sample Day:
8:00am Gather at Philanthropic Service Location
8:15am Learning Element would include Speakers, Activities & Discussions
11:45am Lunch
12:30pm Learn today’s task & begin service project
2:30pm Dismissal
Service Project:
Organizations such as local parks departments, Sheltering Wings, local food pantries, basically any of the non-profit agencies throughout Hendricks County will submit a bid to LHC. This would be a service project they would need and welcome teenager volunteers.
- LHC evaluates all bids received (with the help of a youth committee)
- 4-5 philanthropic projects are selected for YEP to undertake as a whole during the year.
- Our goal would be to select a variety of projects throughout the county and utilize various agencies to better familiarize the students with different options
- Similar to Youth Day of Caring – i.e: a local park hosted approximately 200 kids to paint the wood fencing around the park. Task was completed in one day versus several weeks.
- The Agency would:
- Be limited to approximately 2 - 2.5 hours during the day.
- Provide lunch to students and LHC staff and volunteers
- Provide a room where YEP could meet and have their lunch before working on the project
- Learning Element
a.Tie together with the projects an element that stimulates the students to learn more about giving back in various ways, through various organizations around the county that need assistance, and the focus of the program would be philanthropy.
- Tied together with the project would also be a skill building activity and speakers appropriate to the topic and service project.
- The current mission of YEP focuses on educating students on philanthropic opportunities and ways to assist with their (time, talents & treasures)
Application process:
We are now accepting applications from students entering their Junior or Senior year for the Youth Encouraging Philanthropy (YEP) program. They must be received by April 13, 2012. Applications can be downloaded from our website and mailed to Leadership Hendricks County, PO Box 7, Danville, IN 46122.
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