Teen Community Leadership College

The State Teen Community Leadership College in Ohio originated from the Ohio Cooperative Extension's Family Community Leadership program (FCL)-a program designed to help adults become more effective in representing family concerns in the public decision-making process. Teens hadn't been offered this learning experience. Those involved in the origination of the Teen Leadership Program believed participating teenagers would show higher level changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills, and aspirations1 than they'd shown as a result of existing leadership programs.

With the help of an FCL volunteer, five county 4-H Extension agents designed and coordinated an intensive three-day leadership training for 22 teenagers selected by their county agents. Program objectives were to instruct and prepare youth in the areas of leadership, communication, community affairs, public policy, and decision making. The program also allowed the youth to participate in the community and pass their skills and values on to other teens and adults through volunteerism.

Programs during the first three days were taught by Extension agents and FCL volunteer trainers, with topics on leadership styles, decision making, goal-setting, conflict management, time management, self-esteem, teaching methods, parliamentary procedure, and rights and responsibilities of voting. The teens learned skills essential to teach leadership to other youth and adults. On the final day of the college, county teams presented a program on leadership before their peers and were evaluated. On graduation, the teen trainers agreed to do at least 40 hours of volunteer teaching during the following year in their communities.

The next step in the program was to provide the opportunity for the teens to plan a statewide institute where they determined the subject matter and taught the sessions. The teens conducted a second Teen Leadership College involving 25 new teens representing nine counties.

Since the first teen college in 1989, the teen trainers have been involved in teaching roles in various settings and for a wide range of audiences, including District Teen Retreats, State 4-H Congress, high school programs, minority programs, State Farm Bureau Conference, camp counselor training, Junior Fairboard, Officer and Adviser Training, Drug and Alcoholism Council, and school programs for talented and gifted students.

Nineteen other states have purchased the Teen Community Leadership College materials. The Extension multiplier effect is in place as other youth and adults learn new leadership skills from teen instructors.

1. Claude Bennett, "Up the Hierarchy," Journal of Extension, XIII (March/April 1975), 7-12.