Written By: Rachel E. Noble, Ed.D., Extension Specialist for 4-H Youth Development 

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down programming in March 2020 youth, families, and communities experienced long-term isolation and alteration of their typical lives related to in and out of school activities. Youth out-of-school time programs, such as 4-H, are essential ecological assets and their disruption during the pandemic may have a major impact on youth’s developmental pathways (Ettekal & Aganas, 2020). For many youth COVID-19 will be the defining issue of their lives and affect them in ways that will mark the course of their life-long development (Bartlett & Virette, 2020). As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative that programs, communities, and families that are involved in the lives of youth make a diligent effort to restore and rebuild opportunities that provide experiences to develop interpersonal life-skills. Hosting the Kentucky 4-H Teen Conference in June 2021 was an attempt to provide a typical cumulative experience for senior-level 4-H members. Due to COVID-19 capacity restrictions the conference was open to only those senior-level youth who participated throughout the program year in a Kentucky 4-H leadership board or the Kentucky 4-H Achievement Program.

208 youth representing 68 counties participated in the 2021 Kentucky 4-H Teen Conference. Youth reported that it was important to attend the conference this year because: 

1. This experience allowed me to recover from lost time with my peers, this event reunited 4-Hers from across the state and opened new opportunities for those who missed out due to COVID-19. 
2. This was the first, large, in-person 4-H event since March 2020. This event was much needed to gain a sense of normalcy. This event gave us hope that we will be able to return to traditional 4-H events. 
3. I was excited to attend the conference this year because virtual experiences have been hard for social butterflies like me, I needed to meet people in person. 
4. 4-H Teen Conference allowed me to have a strong finish to my active 4-H career. 
5. This conference has helped me make new friends and build on those genuine connections with 4-Hers from across the state. 
6. After hearing the word “cancelled” all too often seeing other 4-Hers and getting to interact with others was much needed, this event gave me hope. 
7. Being back with other 4-Her’s was a psychological must for me. 

Youth reported how they benefited from Kentucky 4-H Teen Conference: 

1. I got to meet people from across the state that love 4-H as much as I do, being with your people is important and that common ground is a great thing. I was excited to meet the people that I had only got to see on a computer screen or see their name in an email. 
2. By attending this conference I was able to see how my 4-H peers remained resilient through the pandemic and this served as a great inspiration for my future. 
3. This experience allowed my 4-H experience to come full circle in the projects I have competed and learned through over my 4-H career. 
4. I got to exercise my networking skills at Teen Conference by gaining new friendships. 
5. I think that I benefitted from Teen Conference in a lot of ways, I got up on stage and gave a speech, completed service projects to help others, interacted with peers, learned to better manage my time, and experience competitive interviews for the Emerald award.

Attending 4-H Teen Conference at the University of Kentucky is a valuable experience for youth from across the Commonwealth: 

1. As I made my decision to attend the University of Kentucky this year, I feel like the years I attended 4-H Teen Conference at UK helped me make my decision. Getting to see the campus and experience a week of campus life allowed for me to fall in love with the University of Kentucky. 4-H Teen Conference was my first introduction to life as a Wildcat, and I am very thankful that I got that opportunity. 
2. I liked getting the feel for college life, I love staying in the dorms and being independent. 
3. Having this event at UK is very eye-opening to those who are still making post-secondary decisions. We feel connected just by staying in the dorms. We get to tour the campus and explore what the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment has to offer.
4. 4-H Teen Conference helped me feel more connected to UK. This experience personally has helped me learn the college lifestyle. 4-H Teen Conference helps aid in student’s college decisions. 
5. By attending 4-H Teen Conference over several years I have gained comfort with being on campus.
6. I feel much more comfortable with UK’s campus, and college campuses in general, after attending Teen Conference. Being able to live in a dorm for even this short period of time has made me feel more confident to complete the move to on-campus living as a freshman in the fall at the University of Kentucky. 

Henry County teens that were receiving recognition through the 4-H Honors Achievement program attended Teen Conference for the first time.  While the conference had restraints on attendance and the program was modified from years past both teens expressed how well it felt to be among so many of their peer group.  The limitations in no way diminished the enthusiasm and excitement of those in attendance.  One will be serving on the KY State Teen Council next year and the other is a member of the state Natural Resource Academy.