The second—and final—class of 2009 Rogers Scholars arrived at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset on Sunday to begin a week of activities that Lonnie Lawson, president and CEO of The Center, promises to be “a life-changing experience.” In a welcome address to Scholars and their parents, Lawson said the Rogers Scholars program has [...]

Rogers Scholars on Thursday toured the John F. Kennedy Space Center via a live, interactive videoconference with NASA officials. The videoconference—presented by NASA’s Digital Learning Network and brought to Scholars by The Center for Rural Development’s award-winning CenterNET2 statewide videoconferencing network—gave them a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to prepare a vehicle for liftoff [...]

Rogers Scholars began working as teams in their program majors on Wednesday coming up with storylines for short, student-produced films, learning more about engineering in a lightning-speed game of Jeopardy, and developing their computer skills. During the week, Scholars receive 12 hours of instructional training taught by professionals in their respective major. Instruction is provided [...]

Rogers Scholars continued to develop their leadership and team-building skills on Tuesday as they competed in a Lego building blocks challenge. In the exercise—led by Charley Simpson, executive vice president and CIO of The Center—the 30 Scholars were divided into three teams of 10. Each team then selected a leader, and used their communication and [...]

Rogers Scholars spent the second day of their week-long session at the Team Leadership Center in Wayne County reaching new heights. Scholars were challenged to climb to the level they were most comfortable reaching on a 55-foot Alpine Tower. The exercise encouraged Scholars to step out of their comfort zone and reach for heightened individual [...]

This year’s graduates of The Center for Rural Development’s Rogers Explorers summer youth program used their science and math skills to explore the mysteries of space and get hands-on experience turning up clues as crime scene investigators. A total of 60 rising ninth-grade students from across Southern and Eastern Kentucky honed their science and math [...]

MONTICELLO, Ky. — Barbourville resident J.M. Hall was the lucky winner of a houseboat holiday on Lake Cumberland that was the grand prize in a regional fundraising campaign benefiting The Center for Rural Development’s three summer youth programs. Hall’s winning ticket was drawn at random in a dockside ceremony held Monday, June 1, at Conley [...]

They come from communities scattered across Southern and Eastern Kentucky. Some have dreams of opening their own business or becoming entrepreneurs. Others are interested in strengthening their leadership skills. Regardless of those personal goals, all share a common bond to do his or her personal best to improve their lives and the lives of those [...]