16 year old Kaylee Young leads art session at Black Hills Works

BY MICHAEL NEARY

Kaylee Wood relishes the process of painting. Now a junior at Rapid City High School, she’s been painting in earnest since the sixth grade, when she flourished in an art class that she loved. She’s drawn to creating landscapes and scenes dotted with a touch of the fantastic.

But as she described a project she recently completed with Black Hills Works, an organization that helps adults with disabilities, another passion emerged – one that entails striking up strong and empathetic connections with people.

Kaylee recently led an art session with a group of adults at Black Hills Works as part of the Rapid City Area Schools Service Learning Capstone at Rapid City High School.

“She identified community needs, assessed her own talents, and then created and implemented a project plan to better the community,” said Kristin Kiner, youth engagement coordinator for Teen Up - RCAS, in an email. Kiner called Kaylee, who’s 16, an “amazing young leader.”

Kaylee recalled the opening moments of the art session she led at Black Hills Works.

“When I first walked into the room, I was very nervous,” she said. But as the activities began, her artistic prowess and her kind manner with people seemed to take over.

“I made my way around this little table,” she explained, showing her students the