For Tanya Calderon, a rising junior at Cedar Shoals Excessive Faculty in Athens, attending the InnovateU summer season program on the College of Georgia this previous June gave her an opportunity to suppose in another way about her group and study extra in regards to the award-winning public college in her yard.
“I actually beloved attending to know different folks and sharing our views,” Calderon mentioned. “This system additionally helped me study extra about finding out enterprise and finance at UGA and obtained me occupied with attending college right here.”
Calderon was one in every of 24 Athens-Clarke County highschool college students to attend InnovateU, a summer season program on the UGA Innovation District that’s sponsored by the UGA Workplace of the President. InnovateU is coordinated by the UGA J.W. Fanning Institute for Management Growth and School of Household and Shopper Sciences in partnership with the Clarke County Faculty District.
At InnovateU, college students develop as leaders and drawback solvers by innovating solutions to real-life challenges by means of studying management and human-centered design abilities.
This yr’s problem requested the scholars to work with school and business mentors to determine sustainable methods to extend civic engagement in Athens-Clarke County.
Concepts ranged from organizing common occasions to constructing apps for volunteering to making a day-long competitors the place college students would volunteer and earn factors for his or her respective college.
“Getting concerned locally can appear exhausting, however we wish to get extra concerned,” Calderon mentioned. “By way of this program, we realized that we may assist others become involved too.”
UGA Fanning Institute public service college members Lori Tiller and Jason Edwards labored with college students on management abilities corresponding to efficient communication, public talking and group choice making. In the meantime, UGA School of Household and Shopper Sciences college member Dee Warmath and doctoral scholar Jordan Bell led college students by means of the human-centered design course of, which generates concepts to unravel issues by focusing the method on the wants of the individuals who encounter the problem.
“We needed to be keen to work as a staff,” mentioned Emery Freeman, a rising ninth grader at Clarke Central Excessive Faculty. “All of us had an answer, however we needed to work collectively. Our remaining answer included contributions from everybody’s concepts. It was attention-grabbing.”
The scholars additionally work with school and native business mentors, who assist information them by means of their initiatives. This yr’s business mentors represented Caterpillar, Inc.; Adaptive Medical Companions; Terrapin Blue; Golden Mist Consulting; the Clarke County Faculty District; and the School of Household and Shopper Sciences.
InnovateU represents simply one in every of a number of youth applications that the UGA Fanning Institute leads each on campus and in communities throughout Georgia.
One other instance of how the UGA Fanning Institute helps management growth came about in Woodstock. School members Lauren Healey and Jason Estep facilitated the Mayor’s Youth Management Academy for town of Woodstock.
Throughout this system, the ten college students explored matters corresponding to particular person management kinds and battle administration.
“This system has been very instructional, hands-on and enjoyable,” mentioned Lavanya Shankar, academy participant. “I hoped to discover ways to develop in my management so far as studying what my management kinds are and I’ve been in a position to study a lot about battle administration. For instance, I wish to be extra collaborative sooner or later to invoke everybody’s concepts.”
Shankar additionally wished to raised perceive how Woodstock metropolis authorities has handled progress locally.
“We’ve got had the prospect to work with metropolis council members and the mayor and listen to how management may be very private and has completely different kinds has been very eye-opening for me in my management at my college,” she mentioned. “Packages like this are vital for younger leaders as a result of it teaches you to mirror on your self and make it easier to change as a frontrunner to learn your self and your group in the long term.”
The scholars additionally had the chance to discover metropolis authorities, see how town serves its constituents and learn the way they could be capable to become involved over time.
“If we’re going to maintain our eye on what’s subsequent, we have to preserve our eye on who’s subsequent,” mentioned Michael Caldwell, mayor of Woodstock. “This program is about constructing our subsequent technology of leaders right here at house and ensuring they aren’t simply invested in and enthusiastic about the place they stay right now, however they’re additionally envisioning and making ready to steer Woodstock tomorrow.”
Whether or not on campus or in a group, growing youth to be future leaders is a part of the life-long management mission of the Fanning Institute.
“We’re excited to associate with communities like Athens and Woodstock to assist younger folks develop abilities very important to their success each in class and within the workforce,” mentioned Lauren Healey, UGA Fanning Institute public service college.
For extra info on how the UGA Fanning Institute helps communities and organizations construct youth management programming, click on right here.
