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 and 3 youth represented Lincoln County, 2 of which serve on state leadership boards. 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 conference has helped me make new friends and build on those genuine connections with 4-Hers from across the state. 

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.