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 3^rd 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:

• It was important for me because I enjoyed being able to join my fellow 4-Hers in person for the first time in a year. 

Jathan reported how he benefited from Kentucky 4-H Teen Conference: 

• I benefited in many ways, but mostly by seeing firsthand how college students live. By attending conference, I automatically have a head start on what it will be like to attend college. It was nice getting to experience independence for a few days. 

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

• Jathan stated he felt very connected to the University of Kentucky, it was my first time staying on campus and I learned a lot about how to navigate from place to place. Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Teen Conference and look forward to next year.