Author: Dawna Peters
Planning Unit: Leslie County CES
Major Program: Leadership
Plan of Work: Investing in Community Leaders
Outcome: Long-Term Outcome
Success Story: Teen Conference 2021
Written By: Dawna Jace Peters, 4-H Youth Development Agent for Leslie County
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). 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 great effort to restore and rebuild opportunities that provide experiences to develop interpersonal life-skills.
Kentucky 4-H Teen Conference provides a dynamic opportunity for youth to experience life on campus while gaining independence and giving them an opportunity to see themselves outside of their typical environment. 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. Jathan Shell a sophomore at Leslie County High School has been involved with 4-H since the 3rd grade. Jathan became a member of 4-H State Council in 2020 and was also received his Bronze Achievement Award. He was one of the leaders from Leslie County who participated in this event.
Jathan reported that it was important to attend the conference this year because:
Jathan reported how he benefited from Kentucky 4-H Teen Conference:
Attending 4-H Teen Conference at the University of Kentucky is a valuable experience for youth from across the Commonwealth:
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