By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
Some of Boone County’s potential leaders of the future got to experience county government in action last week.
Members of the Boone County Youth Cabinet attended the regularly scheduled Fiscal Court meeting, which was preceded by a question-and answer session with Judge-executive Gary Moore.
Laura Pleiman, Boone County Human Services Director, said the Youth Cabinet was established by the Boone County Fiscal Court in 2002 to provide leadership opportunities to high school juniors who live in Boone County.
“We have a great group of high school juniors and I am excited about all of the things they are going to get to experience this year. They are going to learn about local government, state government, social services and just a lot about our Boone County community.” Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore
“It really is an opportunity to expose the student to county government, to what their county does and to make them a little bit more aware of how things work,” Pleiman said.
The program is a collaboration among the Fiscal Court, R.C. Durr YMCA, the Boone County School District and the Walton-Verona Independent School District.
Students from Conner, Cooper, Boone County, Ryle and Walton-Verona high schools are eligible to participate and youths from all of those schools are represented in the program.
Pleiman said the program includes about 20 students each year and there are events planned each month from August through April.
“We work primarily with the gifted and talented coordinators at Boone County and Walton-Verona Schools,” Pleiman said. “They look through the schools and identify students who have been recognized in leadership roles.”
Heather Hicks, gifted and talented coordinator for Walton-Verona Schools encourages students to apply each year.
“It really is a great way to get them actively involved in local government and to learn more about it,” Hicks said.
Acceptance into the program is a competitive process, and the number of students is limited to around 20 each year.
“They are required to submit letters of reference and write a small essay and they are selected on that criteria,” Pleiman said.
Because the program includes students in their junior year, most are beginning to think about a vocation and partiipation in the Youth Cabinet gives them an opportunity to explore several options.
The reasons students participate in the program are as varied as their potential career paths.
Austin Robinson said he thought it would be a great learning opportunity but admits he was primarily persuaded by his friend, Addie Hincks.
Hincks and Robinson attend Walton-Verona High School as does Sadie Pulliam, who sees more of a direct correlation to her potential career path.
“I am thinking about going to law school, so I think learning about all of these things can really help me,” Pulliam said.
Pulliam will get plenty of exposure to the criminal justice system while in the program.
Among the activities scheduled this year are a law enforcement/public safety day at the Boone County Sheriff’s Department and Jail and a trip to the Boone County Justice Center led by County Attorney Robert Neace.
The program started with a weekend welcome breakfast at the Camp Ernst YMCA that focused on leadership and team building, followed by Tuesday’s visit to the Fiscal Court.
Moore said the program provides the type of exposure to the inner workings of county government most students wouldn’t be able to experience otherwise.
“We have a great group of high school juniors and I am excited about all of the things they are going to get to experience this year, Moore said. “They are going to learn about local government, state government, social services and just a lot about our Boone County community.”
Tuesday’s agenda did not include any controversial issues, so there were no fireworks, but the youths got to see how ordinances and resolutions are enacted, which prompted a question from one student.
Nathan Connor of Ryle High School wanted to know why only four of the dozen or so county officials on hand were allowed to vote on issues.
More explained that it was a “vote of the people” that determined who has a say on county issues.
“The voters choose who they want to represent them and then we serve,” Moore said. “The others that are here, such as the sheriff’s representative, county engineer, treasurer… and so on, are staff positions that are hired by the Fiscal Court. Only those that are elected to be members of the Fiscal Court, the three commissioners and I (are allowed to vote).”
Moore said the answer to the question Connor asked may seem obvious to some members of the general public, but is exactly the type of insight the program is designed to provide.
The Youth Cabinet itinerary also includes exposure to service agencies, including the Northern Kentucky Health Department and the Brighton Center.
The students annually participate in a service learning project that includes assisting with the Kentucky Housing Corporation’s K-Count to identify the state’s homeless population.
The program, which is done in conjunction with a Brighton Center outreach team, helps determine funding assistance programs and provides an opportunity to collect and distribute food and personal care items for those in need.
“In years past they have been helping out with either collecting items for that or actually participate in doing the count,” Pleiman said.
In February students will take a trip to Frankfort to observe state lawmakers at work.
“We’ll take a bus down and spend the day down there and maybe get to sit in on some caucuses hopefully and then sit in on at least a portion of the actual sessions,” Pleiman said.
The program concludes with a graduation event in April.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com