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: 

•    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. 

•    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. 

•    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-H Teen Conference allowed me to have a strong finish to my active 4-H career. 

•    This conference has helped me make new friends and build on those genuine connections with 4-Hers from across the state. 

•    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. 

•    Being back with other 4-Her’s was a psychological must for me. 

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

•    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. 

•    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. 

•    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. 

•    I got to exercise my networking skills at Teen Conference by gaining new friendships. 

•    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: 

•    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. 

•    I liked getting the feel for college life, I love staying in the dorms and being independent. 

•    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-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. 

•    By attending 4-H Teen Conference over several years I have gained comfort with being on campus.

•    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. 

Spencer County had one delegate, in the achievement group, and Agent assisting with the statewide delegation group.  The 4-H member was an Emerald finalist and interviewed during the day on Tuesday.  She was named Wednesday evening as an Emerald Winner, the highest honor for a Kentucky 4-H member.