“The county’s youth appear to be not only more aware, but also more engaged in the services provided by their local government. The county’s commitment to an immersive internship program has been mutually beneficial. The students have earned valuable governmental experience and in so doing have provided the county with equally valuable ideas and perspectives.” — Excerpt from a document from Cumberland County Judge/Executive Luke King’s first fiscal court meeting in 2023
We wrote those words more than 19 months ago, and we’re now seeing the product of the commitment to them.
Just since January, youth representatives have attended and participated in numerous public meetings. They have reviewed and compiled a list of all active county ordinances dating back to 1934; conducted an internal road audit of more than 300 miles of county roads; researched and developed hundreds of questions for the county’s first-ever Cumberland County Trivia Night; conducted interviews with the Cumberland County News and WKYR (monthly); and drafted press releases, meeting agendas and special notices.
They set up for and assisted with court meetings, gave regular public updates at those meetings, created social media accounts for county agencies, helped with phone calls/mail/general constituent inquiries, coordinated July 4 activities at the park, and wrote and signed joint resolutions and proclamations with the county fiscal court.
Students participated in annual animal shelter adoption days, set up a new office with donated furniture, grew our USDA commodity food program to record numbers, toured and donated to the local pregnancy center, sent numerous thank-you notes, visited regional splash pads and wellness centers, painted and reorganized the courtroom, and cut down dead trees on the courthouse and justice center yard.
They traveled to Frankfort for General Assembly recognition and to Washington, D.C. They met with members of Congress, state cabinet secretaries, a senior adviser to the governor, the secretary of state, former Pres. Ronald Reagan’s economic adviser, a former Miss America, and the CEO of the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center to name a few.
Equally as important as all of that, the group also learned to tie a tie and dress professionally.
Students from Cumberland County presented to a room of nearly 80 people, including the Kentucky cabinet secretary for education and labor, members of the General Assembly, county judge/executives, executive directors, board members, business owners, program directors and community members. The meeting was held in Russell County, and I firmly believe it marked the start of something very special for Cumberland County.
The young leaders presented to the group about adopting the program our students helped build and deploying it across the region and the state.
After the presentation, questions came from multiple attendees. At the close of the meeting, the common question and refrain were, “When can you come to our county and share this information? We’d love to have something like this!”
With our smaller-than-average population, it’s too easy to fade into the shadows on big issues, and we could occasionally find difficulty reaching the front of the positive news line with a room full of bigger governments and bigger budgets. This program appears to be an important ingredient in moving toward the front of that line.
The hard work provided and interest shown by our interns have helped establish a program that can serve as a pilot for our friends and neighbors.
Wouldn’t it be something to look back 20 years from now and see civics clubs in schools that feed into county or city internship programs across the state and be able to say, “That started here with our bright young minds!”
The court, the school board, school-based council, faculty/staff at Cumberland County High School and the students themselves have every reason to feel excited about this opportunity, but this is just the first chapter.
I’m tremendously grateful for all those who made this possible and extremely excited to see where the road ahead leads. It’s been nearly two years in the making to get here, but the positive return on investment for this county is obvious.
On a final note, our discussions with our regional partners have proven fruitful.
They are impressed with our homegrown program and have agreed to contribute to it. Your local magistrates found creative ways to fund the internship program initially, and now the regional board has agreed to carry that expense for us. That’s a taxpayer win!
If you hear anyone concerned about the cost to local taxpayers, please share this exciting news with them. The program is so appealing to the region and state that they’ve indicated they want to cover its cost and help the benefits of the program spread.
There are a lot of people and agencies working to make a lot of positive outcomes possible for our county. Members of the younger population were given a seat at the table, and they have definitely taken advantage of it.
