Boone County 4-H Teen Club was developed because there was a lack of a 4-H Teen Council and teen participation outside of the livestock and horse programs. 4-H Teen Club is a leadership group which allows teens to feel a part of group, get to be themselves, learn new leadership skills, and give back to their community.  

General Leadership 

Youth who participate in leadership development opportunities are exposed to a variety of opportunities for personal development. Leadership activities help youth: 

1. Develop confidence in their leadership potential and their own sense of identity. 
2. Improve their self-esteem. 
3. Enhance their communication skill is sharing, reflecting and discussion. 
4. Understand the importance of diversity and improves their ability to relate to others. 
5. Learn effective decision-making methods and experience problem-solving situations. 
6. Learn group social skills.  

(Unlock Your Leadership Potential: A Leadership Project Guide, University of Florida, IFAS Extension, October 2009) 

Asset Development 

Leadership education builds several important assets in Kentucky youth and provides critical elements of youth development (Search Institute, 2004; Pittman, Irby & Ferber, 2001). The fewer assets young people have, the more likely they are to engage in negative behaviors (Benson, 1997; Eccles & Gootman, 2002). The more assets that are provided to youth, the more likely they are to exhibit positive behaviors. Strong leadership and decision-making skills are essential assets in helping shape a 4-H member into a responsible adult (Jones, n.d.) 

4-H Teen Club welcomes middle and high school students and led by 4-H Agent Gina Ligon. This club started with 12 members at the first meeting in October 2021 and we currently have 36 members as. 3 of the 4-H Teen Club members attend the 2022 4-H Teen Summit and 11 members attend 4-H Camp. 6 out of the 11 4-H Teen Club members who attend 4-H Camp were first time campers.   

Each meeting begins with parliamentary procedure and leadership games which brings the group of teens together as a whole. Teens decide as a group what the educational programs and community service projects, they would like to carry out in the community.

Blast from the Past Series was introduced to the teens, to learn more about items used in the past, new skills from old technology, and how to recreate a 3D item from recycled material. The series began with teens using the technology from the past; such as Atari, Nintendo, Gameboy, vcr, box television, boombox, typewriter, polaroid camera, cassette player and recorder, cb radio, record player and records 45 and 33, hand crank can opener, kiss clip purse, old piano keyboard, slides and projector, created their name in shorthand, magnetic gyro wheel, dictionary, and rotary phone.  Going through the past made the teen realize how easy technology is today, compared to the past and fine motor skills they need to complete each task like calling out on a rotary phone.

Part 2 and 3 was recreating their favorite item from A Blast from the Past. Each teen made me a list of supplies they need to recreate their item from recycled products. The purpose of recreating their favorite item is to enter in the county fair.   

Teens learned how you need more patience when using technology from the past, how slow it is to make a phone call on a rotary phone,  the pixels were not great when playing an Atari, Gameboy or Nintendo, and 90 percent of the teens never used a hand crank canner opener. The teens expressed their appreciate for their cell phones and how they could play games, call, text, listen to the radio, watch a movie, and use as a camera on one device rather than having multiple devices to complete each task.

In September 4-H is having an open house to welcome new 4-H members and the teens want to use the Blast from the Past lesson to show how fun their club is and teach others about old technology.