Trimble County has a dedicated group of volunteers who attend 4-H Camp each year. This year we had one volunteer with more than 18 years experience, another two with more than 12 years’ experience, and Three who has come completely through the program as camper, teen, and now adults. Teen volunteers are very important in being able to relate to the campers and being role models. The teens also made sure that the campers were on time and participated in all camp functions. 4-H Camp is a great experience for campers, teens, and adults. Each year, teens must apply and interview for their position as Teen Counselor. This process introduces them to the interview and application process, so that when they enter the workforce, the will be more prepared. As a result of 4-H Camp, youth are taking the skills learned at camp and implementing them into their daily life by being able to solve conflicts, making new friends, and being a responsible individual.

New this year, we held our Teen and Adult training for 4-H Camp at Lake Cumberland 4-H Camp.  We had a total of 42 volunteers and 3 staff attend camp for an in-depth leader training for Camp.  This training, being held at camp, was the perfect opportunity for us to be able connect class locations with instructions for anyone who has never been to camp before.  We also included a new training concept of typical situations that our leaders will encounter at camp.  We called this Behind Closed Doors.  We selected a few people to be in groups to serve as the leaders of a cabin.  They was then presented with a situation such as, 

A: a child wet his pants on the zip line, and now doesn’t want to climb down the ladder 

B: you go to wake up one of the campers in your cabin and you find that they have wet the bed.

C: little Susie is upset because Becky and some others are picking on her for not wearing pink on Tuesday.

Each group was not told what situation they had, but we had adults and agents act out the scene and the leaders had to figure out what the problem was, and then handle it.  After each group went, we then was able to talk about what had happened, and how others may have handled it differently.  This was a great way for us to give real life situations that can or will happen at 4-H Camp, and give the leaders a better understanding of how to handle each and all situations.

Several of the participants responded afterwards that This was the best way to see how other people would handle a situation differently than I would.  One person said that they feel like they have a better understanding of how a simple conversation with a child, could make such a major impact on helping a child have a better week of camp.  And one volunteer stated that they feel better equipped to be a Camp Volunteer leader after seeing the different situations live verses reading about them in the training units.