Saddle Up for Leadership: Empowering Youth with Ranch Skills and Cowboy Grit

Calling all 6th-12th graders ready for a transformative journey at Graceful Oaks Ranch!

Tuition includes book material and a t-shirt.

Program Overview:

Embark on a trail to leadership, where young ranchers not only learn the ropes of ranch care and horse training but also master skills they can use throughout life. This immersive journey cultivates a deep bond with nature while fostering skills in teamwork, leadership, and public speaking. The grand finale? A hoedown-style Family Fun Night organized and led by our confident young leaders, showcasing their growth and newfound skills.

Training: 

In addition to the basic ranch skills all ELYP participants learn, specific Training Modules for students in grades 9-12 include:

Creating a Business Plan

Unleash your entrepreneurial spirit! If you have a product or service idea that you think the world will love but don’t know how to bring it to market, this training will help you realize your dream. Participants will experience a deep-dive, hands-on approach to crafting business plans, using real products & services, laying the groundwork for future success. Whether it’s your creation or one from Graceful Oaks Youth Ranch (GOYR), participants learn hands-on with tangible, real-world applications. These include defining your product and the potential market, raising money to fund your venture, creating operations, marketing, and supply chain plans, and selecting partners to help you get your product to the right customers. At the end of the course, you’ll be able to start and run your own business.

Career Training

Equip yourself with the tools needed for future career exploration and growth. From career identification to job search strategies, participants gain insights for a successful professional journey. You’ll receive coaching in each element of the career development and job search process, including identifying your ideal career and profession, creating compelling career materials such as resumes, cover letters, and a LinkedIn profile, identifying prospective employers, and communicating your value to them, learning how to prepare and conduct an interview, and negotiating the job offer to maximize your compensation. Using the principles taught in this course, you’ll be able to land your first job and set yourself on the path to a successful, life-long career.

Community Outreach

EYLP Participants actively engage in public events and impactful community service projects, learning the significance of civic involvement, thereby fostering a sense of giving back. For example, you’ll help plan and execute Family Fun Nights at the ranch. This is an event where families unite, laugh, and play together, fostering community bonds.

Recognition: 

Students who complete a minimum of twenty Ranch Care Hours during the session, serve at two community events, and attend ten Empowering Youth Leadership Training sessions will receive a letter of recommendation and certificate of completion. In addition, the students will be recognized at our Family Fun Night event at the end of the summer, highlighting the skills they learned throughout the season.