The following is a report from Cumberland County Judge Executive Luke King:
Judge/Executive’s Update: County Civics Club Highlighted on Statewide Television Segment
This month marks one year since the formation of the Cumberland County Civics Club. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate that anniversary than to watch the club receive well-deserved recognition on a recently-aired television segment. I’m not in the TV business, but I’m told it’s common for news segments to range from 30 seconds to about two and half minutes. It’s extremely encouraging that our segment was nearly four minutes! Watch on KET’s website (It starts at the 18:05 mark.)
Kentucky Educational Television (KET) came down to visit with us on Wednesday of this week and stayed for over five hours. They spoke with club members as well as County Magistrate Lane Cope, Extension Agent Elijah Wilson, Cumberlands Workforce Board Executive Director Myra Wilson, Cumberlands WIOA Program Assistant Director BJ Wilkerson, and KY Representative Amy Neighbors. All those interviewed discussed the importance of youth involvement and praised the initiative that our young leaders have taken in pioneering something like this.

KET had the impossible task of reporting on two years’ worth of work in just a few minutes. We’re thrilled with the outcome, but it’s worth noting a couple things from behind the scenes. The segment focused specifically on the civics club and briefly mentioned the county’s internship program as well as the group’s current focus on establishing a local splash pad. While with us, KET was able to witness the students in action during their club meeting. The team passed motions, held robust discussion, and conducted a meeting in such a way that rivals the most professional fiscal court meetings in the state. This wasn’t just for show; it was a real and meaningful meeting. This group gathers once or twice per month to conduct their business and the county’s fiscal court members are invited to hear directly from the youth.
The young group understands they are blazing a new trail, and that’s exciting for them and should be for all of us. They want to help their peers in other counties do something similar. From a judge’s perspective, I’ll admit, it isn’t like purchasing software for a computer. By that I mean it isn’t something you download/start once and then just let it run. It’s like most things; you reap what you sow. Before you ask, I’ll tell you with 100% certainty, it IS worth it. A civics club and internship program can be tremendously valuable to local government.
In Cumberland County, the youth reviewed and compiled a list of all active county ordinances dating back to 1934, conducted an internal road audit of over 300 miles of county roads, researched and developed hundreds of questions for the county’s first-ever Cumberland County Trivia Night, conducted interviews with Cumberland County News and radio station 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 boards/commissions/committees, helped with phone calls/mail/general constituent inquiries, coordinated Fourth of July activities at the park, and wrote and signed joint resolutions and proclamations with the county fiscal court. They 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, hand-wrote and mailed numerous “thank you” notes, visited regional splash pads and wellness centers, painted and reorganized the courtroom, cut down dead trees on the courthouse and justice center lawns, staffed a booth for a day at the Kentucky State Fair, helped make possible our first-ever Give Away a Toy Day, and are preparing to help with a large bonus food distribution later this month.

If you know someone who lives in a county that could benefit from something like this, please share it with them. Our local students are ambassadors for the program and are happy to have these conversations, as am I. The commitment I’ll make to my colleagues in other counties is this. If you’ll take this chance on the youth in your county, I’ll share all the blueprints we’ve used to make ours work and stand ready to answer any questions as candidly and quickly as possible.
On a final note, if you’re a local taxpayer or fellow elected official and worried about the financial burden on your already-tight county budget, that’s a non-issue thanks to our regional and state partners. It’s true that we had to be creative about funding for the first budget cycle, but now we have proof of concept and have earned funding from outside the county. That means we get to give a one-of-a-kind experience to the local youth, AND we as a local government get the extra helping hands we’re always asking for, with absolutely no harm to the local budget!
For the Cumberland County residents who read this, thank you for taking a chance on the court’s youth-focused initiatives. Thank you for reaching out and encouraging these young leaders to step up and change the world. For all those outside Cumberland County, here’s hoping the positive movement we’ve benefited from is contagious and quickly reaches your community. May the future seats at your table be composed of people with vast experience and valuable wisdom as well as members with unparalleled energy and limitless optimism, because I genuinely believe it will take all ages to solve the biggest problems.

The Cumberlands Workforce Development Board is supporting Cumberland County’s Civics Club with funding from Kentucky House Bill 1, a legislative initiative for new workforce development programming. “We have funded the initial five future leaders to provide a valuable head start in gaining experience,” said Myra Wilson, Director of Cumberlands Workforce Development Board. “We will continue to support these efforts. Our goal is to serve youth ages 16-24 in Kentucky who were not in school and not working.”
Expanding on these efforts the Board has begun a new free training program for youth who qualify in the 10 county Cumberlands region. Training areas include Welding, Lineman, Phlebotomy, Heavy Equipment, Construction, and more. For more information about these training opportunities contact:
B.J. Wilkerson
bj.wilkerson@lcadd.org
270 866-4200