GAEL UnscriptED
GAEL UnscriptED, the podcast that goes beyond the headlines and handbooks to bring you unfiltered insights from Georgia’s top educational leaders, innovators, and changemakers. Hosted by Ben Wiggins, Executive Director of GAEL, this show dives deep into the challenges, opportunities, and unexpected twists that shape education today.
From leadership strategies to policy discussions—and everything in between—GAEL UnscriptED is your go-to source for candid conversations that make an impact. No scripts. No fluff. Just real talk from those leading the way in Georgia’s schools.
GAEL UnscriptED
How A Statewide Program Turns Teens Into Community Leaders: Part #2
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If leadership is a muscle, this conversation is the workout plan. We sit down with the team from UGA’s Fanning Institute to unpack Youth Lead Georgia—a statewide program that starts with a three‑day kickoff in Athens and expands into a year of hands‑on learning, industry immersion, and post‑secondary exploration. From team building and self‑awareness to a multi‑day bus tour across Georgia, we trace how students grow from curious participants into confident contributors who can read a room, read a community, and take action.
What makes this model stand out is its intentional mix of access and relevance. Selection hinges on short‑answer reflections, not GPAs, opening the door to students with emerging potential. Each session pairs leadership skills with local context: visits to technical colleges and universities, insights from the military, and on‑site industry experiences that reveal the jobs powering Georgia’s economy. The Phoenix Air visit in Cartersville—a company that transported Ebola patients and handled a high‑profile repatriation—shows students that global impact can start right here at home.
We also get practical. Hear how Oconee County High School tailored modules, shifted to student‑led group interviews, and balanced grade levels to keep momentum strong. Learn how districts around the state adapt schedules to avoid class conflicts, run leadership councils that span middle and high school, and even introduce K‑5 students to age‑appropriate leadership. The Youth Lead Georgia Summit takes it further by inviting representation from all 159 counties, elevating youth voices on the issues they face today and turning those insights into direction for schools and communities.
Ready to bring this to your campus or district? Connect with UGA Fanning on LinkedIn and social at @UGAFanning, and reach out to Lauren and Jason via the UGA Fanning website to set up a Zoom. If this conversation sparked ideas, subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a review so more educators and community leaders can find it.
Welcome to Gale. Real conversation. Real impact. I'm Dan Wiggins, Executive Director of Gale. Join us as we go beyond the headlines with Georgia's top education leaders. Let's elevate the conversation. Welcome back, Gail family, to part two with the University of Georgia Fanning Institute. Last week you heard some great information on their leadership development programs, and we're going to pick back up with part two today. We're going to start off and let Lauren introduce herself briefly, just for those that maybe didn't catch part one. I'm sure they're going to go back and catch part one after today. But Lauren, briefly introduce yourself and we'll come on down the line.
SPEAKER_03:Hey, good morning. I'm Lauren Healy with the JW Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at UGA. I'm the Interim Associate Director for Youth Programs and Conflict Transformation and Dialogue. And my role at Fanning is to coordinate all of our youth leadership programming, and that's everything from developing curriculum resources to working directly with youth and working with schools and organizations and helping them develop effective youth leadership programs.
SPEAKER_00:Hi everybody, my name is Jason Edwards, and I am a public service faculty member at the Fanning Institute. I work closely with Lauren to help facilitate our youth leadership programs across the state and yeah, work with uh teachers and leaders as well. So hand it off to Kelly.
SPEAKER_02:I am Kelly Mafio and I am one of the assistant principals at O Coney County High School, and I work with our student leadership team.
SPEAKER_01:Let's talk about the youth lead program. Okay. Um take us through the timeline. Okay, let's say I'm a student, I fill out the application, and I've been selected. Uh I think you said in part one, you just announced that cohort. Yes. Um and so now when when does it start? What do how do what's the first thing and what are what are some things I can look forward to seeing and participating in in this next year?
SPEAKER_03:Okay. So we do announce our cohort right before Thanksgiving. And our first session is in January and in Athens, of course, on the University of Georgia campus. And so our goal for that first session is to really develop that uh sense of team and the group belonging. And so that session is three days over the weekend, and we spend a lot of time getting to know each other, getting to know ourselves, and um learning about each other. And so um a lot of team building, a lot of group activities. Uh, we get to spend some time with Harry Dog, hear from some local community leaders, doing some very Athens-centric activities, hearing from UGA admissions, and getting to know about the program and about what their role is, the expectations of the program. And then in every session, so the year-long Youth Lead Georgia cohort program takes place over four weekend sessions at different locations around the state, and then a three-day, three-night, four-day bus tour. And incorporated into all of those sessions is a little bit of the community awareness for the communities that we're visiting, as well as exposure to a local Georgia industry in the area where we are, and a post-secondary opportunity available in that area. We like to expose students to all of the post-secondary opportunities across the state. So while we represent the University of Georgia, we recognize that that's not going to be the path for everyone. So we visit universities, we visit colleges, technical institutions, hear from people in the military. Um, and then career readiness. That's where we're exposing them to industries that are very important to the state of Georgia, and also building some leadership skills along the way. So that's an that's part of every session. And in years past, our second session, weekend session happens in March. We go to Cartersville, uh, visit the Georgia Highlands College campus there, some industry. Um for the past two years, we have our weekend sessions have all taken place above Macon. So we have focused our bus tour to the South Georgia area and have visited some cities and communities down there. And again, it's leadership development, post-secondary awareness, uh, career and industry exposure.
SPEAKER_01:Well, just what are a couple of examples of industries that they might visit that maybe you visited in the past?
SPEAKER_03:Okay. Um, so one of the one of my favorite places that we go to in Cartersville is Phoenix Air. And it's I've never I I am Georgia grown, as I like to say, and this is an industry that I was never even aware of. And the reason that I find this place so interesting is because they actually partner with the Department of Defense, and they were responsible for getting Ebola patients from you know wherever they were and transporting them to wherever they needed to go. And so they developed these carriers that were medically sound enough to be able to transport these Ebola patients where they were not at risk to the medical professionals that were on board to treat them. And you get to actually walk into those areas and they show you how they keep them sterile. And when um Brittany Greiner, the basketball player, was transported from Russia back to the United States, they were contracted to do that transport. And so that's right here in the state of Georgia, and I never even knew that that was a possibility here.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, I think that's important for all um K-12 um educators and leaders, is to know what industries are available in their local community and in their region. Um, every place I've ever lived, I've I've always been surprised. There's always industries that I wasn't aware of. Uh even trying to be intentional. Uh, but there's a lot of opportunities for our students, both locally there in their community where they are, or in the region as well as across the state. So I think that's brilliant that you're taking them around in so much. You mentioned in part one, there's one other leadership opportunity for students. I bel I don't want to say the grade, I'll say it wrong, but in January, that application will come open, and you're looking for representation from all over the state, from all districts. Very briefly, remind our listeners what that is.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, so that is our Youth Lead Georgia summit. And it's a little different from our cohort program in that we are hoping to get representation from all 159 counties across the state, and at least one student from all 159 counties. So we're looking for rising 10th and 11th grade students. The application process will open in January and we will accept applications through mid-spring. I hesitate to say a date because I don't know exactly when it's going to be, but it will be well promoted on all of our social media accounts at UGA Fanning. And um that program will take place on UGA campus in July. Students will participate in breakout sessions that are facilitated by our Georgia 4-H partners on college and career readiness skill development, leadership skills. They will hear from keynote speakers and participate in a youth dialogue in which we ask youth to share about the issues and the opportunities across the state that are affecting youth today. And so we're really looking to hear from them about the issues and opportunities that they see as important to them. And Jason can talk a little bit about some of the information that we've learned from them over the past two years about the trends that we're seeing identified by youth that are important to them and that need to be addressed.
SPEAKER_01:Great. I love how you probably not even thinking about it, but you just pointed out, one of uh one of our tremendous Gale partners, Georgia 4H. Of course, the University of Georgia is an outstanding partner uh with Gale and has been for a long time and is actually our home here on the University of Georgia campus. Uh, we appreciate the College of Education so much for all of their support. Uh, but everybody at UGA and Georgia 4H, like you say. So let's dive into the program like Kelly has at O'Come County High School. Let's get into the nuts and bolts. Uh, remind our listeners, um, I heard a little bit in part one. I'm I'm somewhat interested. Who do I talk to? I thought it was really smart what Kelly said when they were looking at programs, they really began to talk to other schools that were doing some things before they found fanning. But maybe in your talk, tell us about a few schools out there besides O'Coney County High School that you're working for. I think Rome High School has come to my mind. Are they with you as well?
SPEAKER_00:Rome City Schools is a client of ours right now.
SPEAKER_01:Well, let's talk about that program and and how to get involved.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I mean, word of mouth is is you know everything we do. And, you know, um we are very intentional about marketing and trying to get the word out. Um, but the the best proof is in the pudding, you know. Um, and so um oftentimes when I connect with a principal or um uh an assistant principal or teacher about starting a leadership program, you're like, I never knew the University of Georgia has something like this they can offer. And we can, and we want to partner with you. That's our whole mission is to come across the state um and and and strengthen communities through leadership development. Um so the the best way, I guess, um for us to kind of um talk is to set up a meeting, right? And so even though we're Athens-based, luckily we have these technologies that we can um hop on a Zoom call, right? Um and like Kelly said in our in our last episode, it's this is all about what the school wants and needs. We don't tell the school this is exactly how you have to do it and prescribe the curriculum because we know that schools have different, you know, uh schedules. Not it's not a one size fits all. So what we do is really we kind of have an exploratory conversation. Honestly, what I do is I've developed a PowerPoint and I walk Kelly through it uh that walks you through the curriculum and and then we talk about how can we make it fit, right? Um, and that can be based on the number of sessions or the time allotment. You know, for for Kelly, for example, you know, it worked out well that we could take four hours um half day in the you know in the morning to lunch and we'd end with lunch. You know, some schools do that as well. Um so that's that's a way to kind of kind of start the conversation. But a couple of the schools that we worked with, like uh Richards Middle School in Gwinnett uh County, um, did a very similar leadership program to Kelly's approach where they didn't choose all eight modules. I think they chose six, and we came to Richards and there were 50 students on the leadership team of six, seventh, and eighth graders, and we would be in the media center um for four hours each time, and we'd we'd work that way. Uh Dr. Holland, he goes, give me give me the whole thing, you know. And so we are doing all eight modules with his um youth advisory council, which is made up of um middle school students and high school students, 50 of them. We meet um at the Career Academy there. They have a very nice room there um for us that is uh very accessible and large. And so we we actually shift though um programming for that. So we don't want students missing the same classes to be in the content uh you know to to engage in our context. So with with them, we start in the morning on one session, then we'll come back and we'll start in the afternoon. Or we're not gonna go out during testing months. So again, we can be very flexible in terms of how we offer it. Um, but those are a couple schools that we're working with. And actually, we're working even with um Whit Davis uh elementary here in Athens, um their student safety patrol team that wants to do some leadership development. Um and so that's a a good point as well, because I think the majority of our clients that we work with as far as schools are middle and high schools, but elementary school students like that's where we really need to grab them, right? And we and get them believing that they can be a leader. And so um we have the resources out there, like a whole curriculum tailored for K-5 students as well. Um, so that's definitely an area of growth that we want to continue to tap into for our youngest leaders who just see that leadership potential in them as far as you know even kindergarten goes, because we can work with kindergartners as well.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, hi Kelly, you you shared with us last time how you worked with Vanning Institute and kind of tailored it to the curriculum to your particular students in your community. You talked a little bit about how you go through the selection process, the grades. I think yours is 10 through 12. And you actually shared last time how the students do some of the uh uh interviewing and selection process. So talk to us a little bit about what does it look like at O'Coni County High School? When do you start looking at next year's leaders? Do you I think you said you have 30. Do you do 10 10th graders, 10, 11, 10 uh to make sure you've always got a cycle? But just talk us through some of the logistics of how you do it at O'Coni.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So we started out where we tried to have 10 students in each grade level. And uh we noticed that our seniors they kind of start dropping off their senior year, not because they're not interested anymore, but they're so involved with dual enrollment and they're not on campus as much. And so um we have uh added more tenth graders to our student leadership team to try to balance things out. Um but that process for us, we start looking at our new group um around the beginning of April. So and we let them recommend students because they they know the kids, they know who needs to get plugged in. Um and so we ask our students to make recommendations, our teachers make recommendations, and then we send out um just a letter to our our students who have been uh basically nominated and to see to gauge interest, and we have an interest meeting, and then from that point we let our students, our our senior students kind of lead that process, and they feel like group interviews are better. They they did some interview individual interviews the first year, um, and then they also did group interviews that first year too. They like the group interview better because they can see how people interact with each other, and um, which I find interesting after going through Jason's program is they are they're already in tune with um that that leadership style and who's gonna be the one to sit back, who are we gonna need to pull into the conversation a little bit more. Um but they they do that interview and we try to have it done. Um we're not always the best with this, but we try to have it done before um like the first the end of the first week of May, because once you get into exams and testing, it gets busy and nobody can do an interview at that point. So that is our general process.
SPEAKER_01:Wow, and just so our listeners know, and I'm sure everybody probably does it different ways, but if I'm selected in tenth grade, am I automatic in the eleventh, or do I have to go back through that process?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so we uh roll up. So if you start in tenth grade, you're going to roll up unless for some reason you you don't no longer want to participate. Okay, awesome.
SPEAKER_01:Jason, why do you think and why does Fanning think and believe that it a program like this is beneficial for the the potential leaders in that community, whether they stay there or they stay in the region or somewhere in the state. Why do you and Fanning feel so strongly like this program and this curriculum is gonna benefit that local community?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I mean, I I think our hope is for for our students to develop into leaders in Georgia, right? But we also know the world's a very big place, and regardless of where they go and what corner of the world that they're in, um they're gonna make a difference. And um, you know, our curriculum in particular, yeah, we're we're tailored to, you know, um producing leaders here in our state. And I think um what students find who go through the program is even maybe they didn't get it when they were engaged, you know, like, oh, why did we do this activity? Or all of a sudden, you know, um it's like I go to college and then I remember, oh my gosh, like this situation literally just popped up for me, right? And I think even Kelly has some feedback from students, even one who talked about how, wow, I recognize how like you know, some of the training we did last year is really impacting my first year on a college campus. So I think it's just giving students the the tools. This is uh, you know, this world uh has a lot of things distracting us and demanding our attention, right? Um it's so easy to look around at what other people are doing, but you know, what our our goal is for students to be very intentional about themselves. They are leaders, they are gifts, you know, to the world. Um, and what they have and and what they possess can really make an impact. And so that's our goal, you know. I mean, our mission is to strengthen individuals and community. And uh, we believe that you know our curriculum is a really good way to kind of capture students at a young age.
SPEAKER_01:Perfect. Kind of going back to the youth lead program for a bit, what is what are some of the criteria that maybe the selection committee uh is looking for? I mean, uh if I'm not a 4.0 student, am I wasting my time to apply? Um, are you you're looking for a certain um academic resume? Are you looking at some uh leadership things? Is it a combination of all of it? How much do references play in? Talk a little bit about that.
SPEAKER_03:So we actually do not ask for any sort of academic information. Um the students are asked to answer four short answer questions. And the questions are around what their future career goals are, what their educational goals are, how they feel they could benefit from a leadership program, and to describe why leadership is important to them. And then they're scored based on those responses. And um, so we don't want this to be a program for students who are typically picked for these types of programs. Now, inevitably, we want it to be a good mix, right? Um, so we do have students who are the high-achieving students, but we would like for it to be a good mix. And so the reason we don't ask for academic qualifications is because we want to get that good mix of students.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and just to add to that, especially for the cohort, we ask an adult to nominate, you know, and and typically what they're going to do is they're gonna nominate somebody who has leadership potential. And that's one of our big pet pillars at the Fanning Institute, is that everybody has leadership potential. And so um that way, you know, an an adult who's kind of seen them in action doesn't have to be the the the straight A student, right? Um, but somebody who's really committed to like making a difference. That's that's what we want to work with before rather than just having a you know sign up and fill out the application. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm. All right, Kelly. So I'm watching well, let me say my principal's watching or listening to this podcast, and my principal all of a sudden has got a lot of interest in doing this. And as some principals might do, they might have an assistant principal on their staff. That they go to and go, Hey, assistant principal, I want you to start looking into this. What would be your advice for that? Uh the principal comes to you and says, Hey, I want you to start looking into this. What would be your advice to that assistant principal as far as beginning to look into this possibility?
SPEAKER_02:I think making connections, um, just finding other schools who have done, you know, this program, similar programs, and just making those connections and seeing what their programs look like, and then trying to figure out what you want your program to look like within your school because what works at one school is not going to work at another. So you have to kind of do your research and make those connections, go do some visits, set meetings up with Jason and and talk to him about what that curriculum is.
SPEAKER_01:I really like the the point you made about visiting the schools. It's kind of like test driving a car. You can you can look at it, you can see it, you can feel it, taste it, smell it. Talk about some of the things on your visits. What what are some things that maybe you saw that you took back that you thought we certainly want to do that, or some things that really piqued your interest?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so one of the school visits we did, um, the students, they they were very much well into this program, um, into student leadership, and they had their students kind of they they had a large group, um, but they had the students divided into kind of two different groups. One was a community outreach group and one was um a school like leadership group. And the ones who were part of the school leadership, they were in charge of creating and um implementing all of the advisement lessons throughout the entire school. And so it was we were able to kind of sit in and watch their process for okay, in December, what do we want our like what what do we think students need to learn during that advisement lesson? And they would come up with engaging things because they're they're like as a student, this is what I would want. So they were creative in that way, and then with the implementation process, um, I really liked that the students were getting out leading lessons with other students. Um and then another school that we went to, theirs what what I observed was completely different. It was actually on a work day, and students came in and they were going through a process similar to what Jason would lead, and they had uh a a handful of students from the different schools within that county. And so it was a very different approach, and and I liked I like that one as well, but I knew that for our county and the size that it is, that something like that wasn't necessarily going to work um at the time. And so that and and around that time is when we got in touch with Jason, and and we're we're trying to do a mix of both.
SPEAKER_01:Fantastic. Um, you know, one of the pillars of Gail, or one of our three pillars is networking, and I think that's what you just heard Kelly talk about is using the power of networking to go and meet with other schools, see what they're doing, ask questions, look at it in person, talk to Jason, uh, and really use those resources to figure out what you might want to do. Well, Jason, to wrap it up, why don't we give one final um uh information to our listeners about who to contact, how to contact. Um you, Lauren, uh set up Zoom calls, whatever, but take them through that process.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, uh reach out. You know, um we we are online, we are on social media, we are on LinkedIn, please connect. Um, but you know, uh Lauren and I, our contact information is is right on uh UGA Fanning's website, so just Google that and you know it'll pull us right up there and you'll have our our email addresses and just it just say hey, I've you know I listen to the podcast and would love to learn more and and what we do is we set up a time. Um but also follow uh follow our social medias. Everything's at UGA Fanning uh because we we have freebies all the time. So, like for example, we have a colleague today who's doing a leadership, she did a three-part leadership series that's open to the public. Um it's a webinar that folks can just drop in. Um so there's there's opportunities like that all the time. As we know, you know, some of the uh leadership practices that she might be talking is very applicable to school leaders like Kelly. Um and so that's that's another thing that we didn't really talk about as much, but we do have the capacity to work with educators. So, you know, current leaders, uh teacher leaders, aspiring leaders, uh, we have the ability to do that. Dr. Holland and his team from Rome City Schools came and did a leadership retreat with us in in the summer. So uh as Lauren always kind of says, we are limited by our own creativity at the Fanning Institute, and so um we think leadership starts with kindergartners and uh doesn't end to, you know, uh it's a it's a lifelong journey.
SPEAKER_01:So you heard that leaders. Uh fanning is uh ready, willing, and available uh to support you from elementary school, leadership, middle school, high school, and even your staff. Uh so if there's things you would like to do with your leadership teams at at your particular school or in your district, I think you can call Lauren and Jason and they'll be glad to set you up with that as well.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Well, thank you again for coming. It's been a wonderful podcast. We can't wait to hear of your next cohort, and we hope to see this program continue to grow. Thank you for joining another episode of Gail Unscripted.
