City Junior Ambassador Program

Photo by Whit Phelps Photography

“The goal of the City Junior Ambassador program is to promote civic engagement while also exercising municipal transparency. We want the students to see what goes on behind the scenes of their local government in an effort to encourage them to become more involved in the community. We want the students to see there are opportunities for success in Henderson, and if it helps secure their decision to stay in Henderson that’s even better,” said Holli Blanford, Public Information Officer with the City of Henderson.  

Holli stepped into her position in December 2022. During her senior year of college, she had the opportunity to intern with Donna Stinnett, who was the previous Public Information Officer. “That’s what kind of peaked my interest in wanting to be involved in local government. I was a political science/public administration major, so I knew I wanted to work in local government, but I didn’t know exactly where that was going to fit or what my niche was,” expressed Holli. Holli’s experience gave her that lightbulb moment  — making it clear what she wanted to do. 

Holli handles public relations for the City of Henderson. She is the liaison between the general  public and local officials.  

The Idea 

The idea to start a new program for high school students all began with a simple phone call to Holli. A local high school student gave her a call back in early spring wanting to get more involved in the community. He didn’t know where to start or who to contact. She sat down with the student,  his mom and his college career coach and this idea came to light through conversation. Holli explained other cities are offering similar programs so there was no reason Henderson couldn’t. From there, she took the idea and ran with it. 

Holli and the amazing support she received from the Board of Commissioners and City Manager, William L. “Buzzy” Newman, allowed this program to come together within a 3-4 month time period. They didn’t want to push it off until Fall 2024 because it could lose momentum and everyone involved was very excited about it. 

“I love the opportunity to get young people involved,” Holli said. Some students know exactly what they want to do after high school while others are still trying to figure it out. “We are hoping this program can help them make those decisions and plant those seeds of wanting to come back and be active in Henderson.”

The Selection Process 

The program is available to both juniors and seniors. Although they didn’t have as much time to advertise before the school year ended, they were blown away by the interest. They had an online application process and also provided hard copies around the community. They advertised on the city website and social media. Holli recalls saying, “We are going to accept 10 students. I hope I can get 10 students.” To her surprise, they had close to 40 applicants! 

The program does not require any type of fee. There are no GPA or extracurricular activity requirements. It was important for them to level it out with students who have a clear cut plan and know what they want to do — whether they want to stay in Henderson or not — with students who are still trying to figure things out. Holli explained how this mixture allows the students to help each other. 

Holli said the main question the committee asked themselves when selecting students was, “What type of student can we have the most influence on and help them find their way?” 

Their job was cut out for them because all the students were worthwhile candidates and wonderful students. To help select the 10 students who would be the first City Junior Ambassadors, a committee was formed including both individuals from the city and the school system. They went through each applicant by hand. The school system employees had grades and attendance while the city was able to look through the applications and see if candidates were already  involved in the community, if they were wanting to stay in Henderson, etc. It was a great collaboration. 

The students who were selected received a letter congratulating them and laying out what the program was going to look like. Since they will only meet 9 times, they have asked them to only miss one meeting in order to graduate from the program. They were each given a city junior ambassador t-shirt and are required to wear it at each meeting. 

The students who were selected for the first year of the City Junior Ambassador program are Carson Weiss, Henry Porter, Merrick Conkright, Molly Cowan, Anna Bennett, Ty Boggess, Joselyn Adrian, Davis Cummins, Thomas Berger and Laynie Rich.

Meeting Days 

Students meet the first Friday of each month, September through May, and typically start between 8-8:30am. At the first meeting, students toured the Henderson Municipal Center and sat through a roundtable discussion with the city’s Board of Commissioners. During the second meeting, they explored the city’s emergency services with the Henderson Fire Department, 911 Communications, and the Henderson Police Department. Holli stated, “I don’t want them to sit in chairs and listen to someone talk. They are very active.”

While Holli oversees the program, the department heads are wonderful and a huge part to making this program as successful as it has been up to this point. She gives them a generic overview about what she wants the students to learn, but then tells the city they are the subject matter experts. She tells them, “You know all about your department, so you do what you do.” 

The students have to be back at school by 1pm, so they usually spend half a day for meetings. A couple of hours are spent at places downtown before having lunch. Sponsors are providing lunch for the students on meeting days. James Runion with Farm Bureau sponsored the first lunch and the second lunch was sponsored by Independence Bank. “That is another avenue for them to be exposed to others within the community,” said Holli. The sponsors will speak for a few minutes to introduce themselves and tell a little about who they are and what they do, but they also stay for lunch. This opens doors for the students to have great conversations with the sponsors. 

Looking Ahead

“I am still new in my position, so I am still learning things about all of the different departments. I am learning just as much as they are,” stated Holli. 

With this program being new, Holli is taking everything she is learning herself at each meeting and figuring out ways she can build off of that for the group next year. Currently, the only thing she is trying to gauge right now is the number they want to set for capacity for the 2024/2025 school year. 

Next year, they will begin advertising earlier. The goal is to start sometime in March, so they have more time to obtain more applicants. The students who were selected this year didn’t find out until August, but they are hoping to let the next ambassadors know during the summer — allowing August to be the first meeting instead of September next year. 

“Right now, it’s focused on city government simply because I am a city employee,” Holli said. However, they have a meeting planned to visit with the county government, too. A lot of students live outside city limits, so exposing them to their county government is also important. Holli would love to see it grow in that way. 

They are also going to come together with the Chamber of Commerce, Henderson Economic Development, and Henderson Tourist Commission and meet at Gallery 101. Each of these organizations are going to speak about how they work with the city government to get their jobs done because a lot of them are funded through the city. Holli wants students to see that there are different avenues they can take if they don’t want to work within government.

A day trip to the Kentucky State Capitol is also in the works as Representative Jonathan Dixon and Senator Robby Mills have invited the students to come to Frankfort in April. “It isn’t everyday that your representative and your state senator are from your home county but to have elected officials that are business owners in your hometown is really cool,” said the enthusiastic program coordinator.

To celebrate the completion of the program, they plan to have a dinner for the City Junior Ambassadors and their families. It will be a way to not only celebrate what they have done all year but give their families the opportunity to meet the people they come home and talk about. 

There was a time when Holli considered leaving Henderson and pursuing marketing, but then she met her husband and received her internship with the city. She said she felt like it was God’s way of saying, “You aren’t going anywhere.” And for the students growing up in Henderson now, Holli always tells them how lucky they are because there are so many different opportunities here in Henderson than what she had as a high school student. 

During the first meeting, the students had the opportunity to meet City Manager, Buzzy Newman. The students loved speaking with him. Holli laughed as she explained how they ask if he will be at every meeting. Before this program, the students knew we had a city manager but they didn’t know who he was. One student happened to see him and his wife at Cracker Barrel. The student went up to him, and to his surprise, Mr. Newman remembered his name. “This is why we do this program,” exclaimed Holli. They are making a difference in the lives of students, and opening up doors and opportunities they may not otherwise have known they had. 

Here is what a few of the City Junior Ambassadors had to say about being part of this new program: 

Merrick Conkright: “I have enjoyed learning about all of the different agencies and programs within the City of Henderson and how they all work together. I hope to continue to learn more and increase my knowledge of city government.”

Carson Weiss: “I am thrilled to be part of the City Ambassador program. Throughout high school, I have been highly involved in school academics, athletics, and extracurriculars. I searched for a way to become more involved in my community. I was beyond excited when I learned the City of Henderson was going to offer this program for students like myself. This program gives students a backstage look at the inner workings of our community and local government. I have already learned so much and look forward to the rest of the program. I appreciate our local leaders’ time and commitment to this program and their investment in the next generation of community leaders. I hope this program continues for years to come.”

Joselyn Adrian: “I’m so honored to be in the Junior Ambassador program for the City of Henderson. It’s such an amazing opportunity to understand our local government and the important roles that run the community. I have met many of the incredible leaders who run Henderson and understand their jobs. It’s very important to appreciate our community and all the love and hard work that goes through it. I can’t wait to learn more.”

If you have an incoming junior or senior who might be interested in the 2024/2025 City Junior Ambassador program, be on the lookout for more information coming to Henderson County High School in March 2024. For questions, you may contact Holli Blanford at [email protected].