ASHLAND — Even after being accepted as one of only 56 members of the 2010 class of Leadership Kentucky, Faith Frazier said she was not certain she had made the right decision in agreeing to be part of the program that would  involve 14 days of sessions over seven months and take her to every corner of the state.

“I had never really been involved in any type of leadership training program, and I just was not sure this program would be worth my time,” said Frazier, the director of the Lawrence County Health Department in Louisa. “My schedule is pretty busy and I didn’t want to be a part of something that would mostly be a waste of my time.”

However, by the end of the first day of the first two-day session in the tiny community of Jabez near Somerset, Frazier said, “I knew I had made the right decision. The speakers were fantastic. The sessions were intense and even a bit grueling but every second was worthwhile.”

Scarlett Grubb, the executive director of Helping Hands of Greenup County, also has nothing but praise for the statewide program founded in 1982 to identify and develop “leadership resources to create a better and greater Kentucky,” according to Leadership Kentucky’s mission statement.

“This has been an awesome experience,” said Grubb of Leadership Kentucky. “It is giving me opportunities that I never would have gotten and giving me so many ideas that I think are not only helping me but also benefiting Helping Hands. I know it is making me a better person and I think it will make Helping Hands a better organization.”

Frazier and Grubb are the only area residents who are part of the 2010 Leadership Kentucky, and Frazier said she didn’t know until the first session just how difficult it is to be selected as a participant.  

“There apparently is a lot of competition for a spot in a Leadership Kentucky class, particularly in the large cities like Louisville and Lexington,”  Frazier said. “I think some of them are a bit surprised that people like Scarlett and I were selected when we are from such small towns, but I think the fact that we are from small towns in eastern Kentucky is one of the reasons we were selected. When other class members ask me how I was selected, I tell them that it helps to be from rural eastern Kentucky.”

The first two-day session in Jabez was in May and centered around the theme of Kentucky history. In addition to learning about the state’s history, that session was an opportunity for the class members to get to know each other. Both Frazier and Grubb agreed that the best thing about Leadership Kentucky is the networking with other class members from throughout the state.

“I am thrilled to death to be associated with such fantastic people,” said Frazier. “I have been both inspired and challenged by them.”

“I am learning so much by just being with the other class members,” said Grubb, who has headed Helping Hands for the past year. “I have learned about grants that I was not aware of, and Helping Hands is applying for funding from some of them. I am learning about nonprofit agencies in other parts of the state that are basically doing the same thing that Helping Hands does, and I am getting new ideas from them. It has just been a great experience.”

In addition to the opening session in Jabez, the 2010 Leadership Kentucky class had a two-day session on government and the media in Frankfort in June, a session on economic development and natural resources and the environment in Hazard in July, and a session on health care issues and energy in Louisville in August. Coming up are sessions on education in Louisville later this month, a session at Eddyville and Fort Campbell in October and a concluding session in northern Kentucky in November.

“Every speaker we have heard has been great, “ said Grubb. “While class members have expressed varying opinions and have not always agreed, everyone has been very respectful of each other. That’s because we know and like each other and have come to value each others’ views even if we don’t agree with them.”

There was one session in which some class members were asked to give speeches at the start, Frazier said. The session leader then evaluated each speech and suggested ways to improve them. Other class members also made suggestions. The speakers then repeated their speeches.

“It is amazing how much better they were the second time,” said Frazier. “The speakers listened to their evaluations and employed some of the suggestions. The changes were dramatic.”

That is typical of what she has learned from the Leadership Kentucky sessions, Frazier said. She has gone from being a doubter about the value of Leadership Kentucky to being convinced it may be the best thing she has ever been involved in, she said.

Grubb said she knows that she has developed friendships through Leadership Kentucky that will continue long past the last session in November.  “I believe the benefits of Leadership Kentucky will continue for years to come, not only for me personally but for Helping Hands. I think Helping Hands will become a more effective agency because of it.”

JOHN CANNON can be reached at jcannon@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2649.