4-H Teen Council

The teen leadership component of the 4-H program is very important for building and preparing local youth for their next steps in life after high school. Greenup County has a strong 4-H program, especially in the area of livestock, but currently has an agent vacancy. The Greenup County agent co-workers divided out 4-H responsibilities and the Fine Arts Agent took on Teen Council.  

This is a success story not only about what the Teen Council members accomplished, but also about an agent from another Extension program learning more about and supporting a 4-H program that is connected to state-level opportunities for advancement for exceptional youth.

As an agent new to 4-H programming, the state specialists and other county agent were key to understanding and facilitating a semester of the Teen Council program. We chose to offer this program in semesters in order to pair with the school schedule and also to break it down into manageable periods of time commitment. 

The first semester ran from January – May, 2021 with a total of 11 members representing each of the three school districts in our county. Eight of the eleven were new members. They completed five meetings, two community service projects, sent two leaders to Teen Conference on campus at UK, supported a member of the State Teen Council who was also an Emerald Candidate, and recognized a member of the Virtual State Ukulele Club. 

The officers of the spring semester group have agreed to continue into the fall semester and will also take part in the recruiting process prior to the start of the next semester. The goal is to establish a Teen Council group with representation from the county and both independent school systems as well as any interested homeschool students that will be stable and active when Greenup County is able to fill the currently vacant 4-H Agent position.