TOLEDO, Ohio — Helping kids as young as six become leaders - that's the goal of a local program that typically only happens during the school year. Now, it's also offered during summer break.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of northwest Ohio expanded their Empowering Future Leaders (EFL) program into the summer to teach kids about different cultures and careers.
It is all first-hand knowledge from working professionals in the Toledo area.
The program is based on 4 pillars:
- Life skills - how we make life decisions and how we see ourselves and others.
- Cultural competency - what do we know about our own culture and how we interact with other cultures successfully.
- Leadership - what the program is designed around, teaches kids how to manage themselves and coach others.
- Career development - experts come in and speak to the participants about life challenges, how to overcome them, and how to succeed in their careers.
This summer, the kids have heard from journalists, government officials, fitness experts, businessmen, and doctors.
"When children are exposed early on to concepts such as leadership, being able to think about what their futures might hold, I think that it really makes a difference for people over a lifetime," said Dr. Sharon Thomas, MD - a pediatric critical care physician.
The overall goal is to give guidance, insight, and inspiration. And the children come back to lead as they get older.
"How to be a leader, how to put others before yourself, and how to step back sometimes and let other people lead. And we have all these people coming in to talk to us about things they do, things they might want to do that could put us in a spot to be like, oh I like that maybe I'll do that when I get older," said Madison Guy of EFL Alumni Empowering.
Every child involved is also introduced to other summer camps and programs to give them a real option.
To learn more about the Empowering Young Leaders program, click HERE.
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