4-H Teen Survival Camp was trialed in 2021 as a one-day camp for teenagers.   After the one-day camp, it was brought to our attention, teen programs in our county was lacking.  The 4-H Teen Survival class began filling and waiting list was created.   Parents of the community informed us they were looking for summer outdoor programs.   

In 2022, Lacey Kessell the Boone County Environmental Agent, Gina Ligon a Boone County 4-H Youth and Development Agent, and Christy Eastwood a Boone County Youth and Development Agent started planning a three day 4-H Teen Survival Camp.  4-H Teen Survival Camp consisted of 21 teens and each day began with team building activities.  The first day of 4-H Teen Survival Camp the Boone County Extension Office Agent’s partnered with Nature Reliance School’s instructor Craig Caudill.  Teens learned wilderness safety, first aid, shelter building with natural items, and navigation.   Day two we covered useful equipment to pack, fire starting, rationing food, and outdoor cooking.  The final day, we covered shelter building (where some of the teen club leaders taught knots), water purification and then did our backpack challenge. During the backpack challenge, the teens were put into three groups, and they had tasks to complete, put the skills they learned from the camp into action.

 Teens who attended the 4-H Teen Survival Camp were given a verbal evaluation after the backpack challenge.   The teens enjoyed the outdoor cooking and learning skills throughout the camp.  The teens we not happy with their backpack challenge groups, because they became separated them from their friends.  The teens said their groups would have worked better if they were with the people they know and liked.   The purpose for the leaders separating the teens from their friends, was get them out of their comfort zone, working with new people, and see who could accomplish the tasks as a group. The hardest task for two out of the three groups to complete was the fire making challenge.  The woods and kindlin were wet from rain, but the group who accomplished every task appointed a leader and assigned the tasks throughout the group. For the teens who did not take the challenge seriously and did not follow the leader, they created more work for the rest of the group.   The group of teens that completed the challenge, said rationing food was their hardest task because they like the food they packed.  They also used the food to motivate the members of the group who were not contributing as much.

6 out of the 21 teens have come back and told us they made fire since the camp.   15 out the 21 teens have been hiking and packed survival items since the camp. 5 out the 21 teens have cooked over a fire.

“The camp needed to be longer to practice the skills and we should be aloud to pick our own groups.”

“The team building activities was hard because we were working as one large group.”

“The camp was awesome, we wish it was longer and we could pick our own groups.”