Leadership has been identified as one of 3 essential skills 4-H offers to youth. Leadership development in our youth is what will shape our future. The 4-H Summit is one of the state-wide leadership programs offered here in Kentucky geared towards reaching the middle school age group. Youth spend two nights and three days at one of two 4-H Camp locations: Lake Cumberland 4-H Camp or Western Kentucky 4-H Camp. During this program, youth take part in large group programs focusing on team building and leadership development. Participants are also given the opportunity to further explore their interests with individual workshops geared toward our seven content areas.

Fayette County 4-H brought ten youth, including participants and teen leaders. Of the ten, we had three teen leaders and seven participants. Over the course of the program, I was able to observe our youth break out of their shells and explore their interests during the individual workshops. As a state-level conference, our youth were also about to meet other 4-H members from across the state.