Kay Tettleton
LSU Agricultural Center
P.O. Box 488
Calhoun, LA 71225-0488
(318) 644-5865, (318) 644-5045 fax

Strategic Adult Leadership Training (S.A.L.T.) is a series of educational opportunities created to help previously unidentified non-traditional leaders emerge from within rural communities in Northeast Louisiana. This region includes one of the most economically depressed areas in the nation—the Mississippi River Delta. Among the challenges faced by this rural area is the lack of actively engaged community leaders representing all parts of this diverse population.

S.A.L.T. provides participatory learning experiences designed to motivate and empower participants to find within themselves desires, skills, abilities and confidence to assume leadership roles. This curriculum has been utilized by diverse groups including graduating technical college students, employees seeking professional development, multi-racial and cross-cultural audiences.

Designed for 12 hours of participation and classes during six separate sessions usually one to two weeks apart, the LSU AgCenter offers S.A.L.T. as interactive, participatory learning for groups of 15 – 25 participants. Class topics include communication skills, meeting management, public speaking, team building, conflict resolution, working with difficult people, confidence-building, stress management, and community project identification and implementation.

This workshop offers a sample of each of the sessions, complete with PowerPoint presentations, interactive confidence-building activities, role playing, success stories and opportunities for individual participation. An outline of the program, teaching objectives, handout materials and resource suggestions will be provided for each participant.

Outcomes from previous S.A.L.T. classes include discovery of and involvement of new leaders within communities, enhanced skills among volunteers, improved community collaboration among traditional/non-traditional leaders, strengthening of relationships between communities, and numerous individual leadership successes.