In mid- March, 2020 life as we knew it either came to a halt or drastically changed as the Covid-19 pandemic began its known presence in Kentucky.  One of the groups of people that became widely thought about during this time of shutdown were the high school graduating class of 2020.  Not being able to finish out their year in school brought about many traditions that too were missed, including that of graduation.  Clark County 4-H had 17 Senior graduates this year.  As reality began to set in on the many “norms” that these teens were not going to experience in their final semester of high school; plans to develop an event that would be specific to this class and a positive memory for them to look back on came to fruition.  4-H Graduation Drive In was planned and facilitated for these teens and their families by Agent Shannon Farrell, Staff Assistant Linda Winburn, 4-H Program Assistant, Lucas Powell, and Custodian Tony Denniston.

The event started at 9 PM on Friday, May 22^nd, 2020.  All graduates and their families were assigned parking spots (every other spot) in the front parking lot at the Clark County Extension Office.  After agent Shannon Farrell brought each vehicle a parchment paper for the time capsule and official program for the evening; the convoy of vehicles began towards the back parking lot.  The first station behind the Extension Office was the Time Capsule station.  As each car pulled up to the station; graduates would hand their completed time capsule parchment to our 4-H Program Assistant, Lucas who would insert the paper into the drop box.  The President of our 4-H Council was also in attendance at this station to greet every 4-Her and their family.  During the entire event, a graduation playlist of music was played.  Many of the teens were on speaker phone with each other to communicate while in their cars.  Others had fun just talking out the window with those close to them.

The second station was the photography station.  Each car stopped at this station and the graduate would work with Photographer, Mike Meyer to take a photo of their choosing.  The final station was the drive in.  Each car parked at its designated name plate facing the drive in curtain.  The video shown was 20 minutes in length and showed these 17 graduates in pictures of their 4-H career involvement.  Each graduate was also given a duffel bag containing 4-H mall reusable straws, wooden keep sake box that had the 4-H emblem burned into it, a certificate with their name, and thumb drive with a copy of the drive in video on it.

This is without a doubt one of the most rewarding events that I have ever had the privilege to facilitate in the 11 years that I have been a 4-H Agent.  It was so unique, executed so smoothly, and was extremely rewarding.  Following the conclusion of the drive in, all drivers began honking their horns and texting their appreciation for the event.

The following messages from participants help portray the enthusiasm that was shared that night:

Julie; 4-H Council President: “Shannon, you did a fabulous job.”

Skylar: “Thank you!”

Madison: “Thank you so much for putting all of this together.  It will be a night we never forget.”

Abby: “Thank you so much!!”

Rebekah: “Thank you Shannon for everything you’ve done for us through the time you’ve been with us in our 4-H experience.  You’ve never failed to make us feel special, and I hope we’ve done just a little bit of that for you.  4-H is something that’s really hard to say goodbye to, although fully expect a lot of us to be back time and time again (especially for camp magic because that’s something that you’ll never grow out of”.  Thank you so much for investing your time in each and every one of us helping us to reach out full potential as to who we can be and encouraging us to run with our passions.  Thank you for sharing your contagious enthusiasm and optimism in everything and fro being such a good friend and leader to us.  Clark County 4-H would not be anywhere of what it is today without the hard work you and everyone else have put into it.  Thank you for putting all the time and effort into making tonight something we won’t forget!

Makenzie: “Thank you all for everything and being our second home.”

Hayden: “Thank you, thank you, thank you guys that was awesome J”

My response to the graduates:  I so appreciate each one of you! It was an honor to put tonight’s event together.   What a wonderfully special group you are!  I am truly the one who is privileged to have gotten to know you all through 4-H!  You set the bar so high.

Patricia: “Thank you!   Wonderful job!

Jennifer: “Thank you!   We really enjoyed this!

Leanna: “This has been the highlight of quarantine!  Thanks for putting this together!

Shawnda: “Thank you sooo much, awesome job, really appreciated and enjoyed.”

Lori: “Thank you so much!!   It was wonderful!!  Will miss JT being a part of this great group of people!

Susan: “This was so amazing!   Thank you so much for your faithful work you do for all 4-H members.  Loved the video!!!

Matt: “This was Amazing!   Thank you!

Shannon Cooper: “Thank you so much!  We plan on sticking around for a while LOL.”

Peggy: “Oh this makes us miss camp that much more.  Thank you for all the sweet memories.”

Jamie: “Thank you for everything Shannon.”

My response to the parents: “I truly had a blast putting this together for each of your sweet graduates!   What a special group of young people.   Thank you for the support you have given them through the years, … you should be so proud!  I feel so blessed just to have gotten to know them.”