MORGAN TOWNSHIP – The 2026 program year for Youth LEADERship Ashtabula County began with some getting-to-know-you exercises at Beaumont Scout Reservation on Thursday, Sept. 3.
Carley Downey, program director, said Youth LEADERship Ashtabula County gives local high-school juniors a chance to see their community from a different perspective and to begin figuring out how they can help shape its future.
Throughout the school year, students meet with leaders from across the county and get a firsthand look at local government, business, nonprofit organizations and other parts of the community.
Along the way, they build leadership and teamwork skills and tackle community issues of their own, developing projects and presenting their ideas to local leaders.
Students who complete the program can continue with YL2, which offers more advanced leadership experience and opportunities to stay involved in the community.
One of the activities Downey oversaw on the first day for seniors in YL2 was a personality test designed to highlight differences in how the youths approach people, how they respond when approached and the strengths and weaknesses of different interpersonal communication styles.
Downey said the YL2 program is designed to help students build soft skills over time.
Day one is time for “getting their toes wet,” before taking deep dives into topics introduced at the beginning of the year.
For the 2026/2027 program year, there are 51 juniors in Youth LEADERship and 50 in YL2, according to Downey.
Hannah Dunn, a senior at Geneva High School enrolled in YL2, said she came back mostly because she had a lot of fun in Youth LEADERship last year.
“It was the highlight of every month in school for me,” she said. “I always looked forward to coming and doing new things – it was really fun.”
She said her main lessons from Youth LEADERship were to be more open-minded and that being a leader is more than standing up and taking charge.
Dunn said this year she hopes to build her confidence level and to establish new relationships and strengthen existing ones with students in the Youth LEADERship and YL2 programs.
Nick Brecht, a junior from Conneaut High School was starting his first day at Youth LEADERship.
He’s said he’s already been acting in a leadership capacity in school and sports and wants to build on those skills.
“My sophomore year, I was selected to go to Beachwood for the baseball team to do a leadership summit,” he said. “So, I’ve just wanted to stick to that path, and I thought Youth LEADERship would be a good next step.”
He said his goal is simple: to become the best leader he can be, and to keep building on what he already knows.
“How to lead my baseball team, hopefully make it far and then, later on, how to lead a business,” Brecht said.
Lara Reibold, LEADERship Class of 2024, said she’s been volunteering with the Youth LEADERship program for three years now to give back to the program and the community.
She said what she enjoys most is building relationships with the students in the program and helping them with skills they will need moving forward: things like handshakes, relationship-building and leadership styles.
“The kids we get are already good kids – kind of the cream of the crop,” Reibold said. “They learn skills throughout the day about being a leader.”
Each month is managed by the program coordinators and a “day chair” to line up where to hold the program day: Agriculture Day, Health Day or Business and Economy Day, for example.
Reibold said the students are taken to different areas with no advance notice as to where and sometimes what they’ll be learning.
“Some people who really need to plan – that’s hard for (them),” she said. “But it’s to help teach them how to adapt.”
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