BUCKHANNON – Upshur County residents are being offered a unique opportunity to learn more about Buckhannon city and Upshur County government entities as well as how organizations in the area work.

This project, sponsored by Create Buckhannon, is the 2021 Leadership Academy and is being organized by Dr. Joseph B. Reed.

Reed said the idea for the mostly virtual program came from a program nine or 10 years ago that David Taylor ran. He said he was a participant in the first session, and he hoped to revive the academy because Create Buckhannon was looking for incentives to inspire people to get more active in their communities.

“My hope is that people will learn about Buckhannon and how things work,” Reed said. “I hope people will get more involved in the community. From the previous two sessions, we found after completion, folks were much more involved in community activities and will attend meetings and share their ideas.”

The program is geared for residents who are age 18 and up.

“Registration will be available on the Create Buckhannon page, located at www.createbuckhannon.com, beginning Jan. 1, 2021 and running through Jan. 31,” Reed said. “The sessions will start Feb. 10 from 6 to 9 p.m. and be on Wednesday evenings for 10 weeks, except for Easter week.”

He said the cost for the program is $25 and will be limited to 30 participants, and classes will likely be entirely virtual. Payment must be made by Jan. 31, and there is an application to participate in the program which can be accessed on the Create Buckhannon page.

“If everything works out, we will offer approximately 50 presenters over the 10 weekly sessions,” Reed said. “This will give people a chance to learn and ask questions. Most of the presenters will have 10 or 15 minutes to make their presentation with a question-and-answer session afterward.”

Reed said participants must attend all sessions, and he said folks will need a quiet environment during the sessions as well as a stable internet connection and a device on which to view the presentations.

“Along with learning about how these entities work, participants will get to know the people,” he said. “If the need help, they will know who to call upon.”

Participation in the 2021 Leadership Academy could spark interest in people serving on community boards or serving on community committees. Reed would like to see graduates attend more community meetings and participate.

“It probably increased observation of City Council meetings and County Commission meetings [in the past] would be my guess,” Reed said. “We hope folks will register, attend the sessions and learn more about their community.”

Sessions will include such topics as the Buckhannon City government, Upshur County Government, education, development, youth activities, law enforcement and judicial, transportation and protection, health and illness care, employment and recreation and a final session, which organizers hope will be an in-person banquet.

Additional information is available by contacting Reed by calling 304-472-2146 or by emailing jbreed1@frontier.com. Interested city and county residents may also stay up-to-date by following Create Buckhannon’s Facebook page here.