Overview of the KY YMCA Programs
Y Membership and Empowerment
Student Y is our student-led program that empowers middle and high school students to make a meaningful impact in their local and global communities! If you're passionate about creating positive change, developing leadership skills, and engaging in service learning projects, then Student Y is the perfect opportunity for you. Student Y is open to students in grades 6-12 and serves as a platform for schools and community organizations to foster compassionate community leaders. Student Y members receive discounts on other Y programs.
Youth and Government Conferences
Kentucky United Nations Assembly (KUNA) is a 3-day, experiential-learning conference in which students participate directly in simulated international diplomacy. KUNA offers students the opportunity to experience the richness of cultures from around the world, develop empathy, and hone their critical thinking skills while engaging with a wide variety of perspectives and global issues.
Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA) is an expanded, educational opportunity in which students serve as part of a model state government. KYA offers students the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of issues, develop critical thinking skills, and articulate their beliefs while engaging constructively with their peers from around the Commonwealth.
Leadership Development Conferences
Go For It Conference (GFI) Conference, which occurs annually over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, is a three-day inspirational and motivational character development conference that builds servant leaders through a focus on introspective reflection, personal discovery, and skills development. Through in-depth guided discussion, small group activities, and team building, teens hone leadership skills and explore their own values away from the pressures of their daily lives.
Leadership Training Conference (LTC) is an inspirational, motivational, and FUN character development conference that builds servant leaders through a focus on personal discovery and skills development. Through in-depth guided discussion, small group activities, and team building, teens hone leadership skills and explore their own values away from the pressures of their daily lives.
Service Learning Program
Y-Corps is a yearlong service-learning program that asks students to perform at least 50 hours of community service, raise money for the Y’s scholarship fund, and advocate for the Y movement. In the summer, Y-Corps teams travel around Kentucky or a region of the United States performing service, staying at local YMCAs, and learning about the communities they serve.
National Conferences
The Kentucky YMCA is one of 39 state programs of YMCA Youth and Government. Each year, Kentucky joins these state programs in sending delegations to multiple national conferences around the country:
- YMCA Conference on National Affairs | CONA
- YMCA National Judicial Competition | NJC
- YMCA Youth Governors Conference
- YMCA National Advocacy Days