The University of Missouri Extension hosted its annual 4-H Teen Conference March 25-26 in Columbia, and among the 366 youth ages 11-13 in attendance were Texas County 4-H members Pierce Ford and Evan Gifford.
The two local 4-H delegates joined youth from 66 other counties to build leadership, gain new skills and learn ways they can help their community.
“Leadership skills are a solid foundation for success, even for careers that haven’t been invented yet,” said Bradd Anderson, MU Extension state 4-H youth development specialist, who coordinates the event. “Teen Conference brings the thrill of independence in a safe, warm and inclusive atmosphere, and there’s a confidence that comes from that.”
The daytime schedule included festivities at the Columbia Expo Center and educational workshops on the MU campus, planned and led by the older teens of Missouri’s State 4-H Council. Workshops included making chew toys for homeless pets from discarded T-shirts, learning about the strengths of different personality types and mastering new dance moves. Evening events included a dance, a movie and the opportunity to become “soil sleuths” through the 2017 National 4-H Ag Innovators Healthy Soils CSI project, sponsored by National 4-H Council and Monsanto. These sleuths studied soil composition, investigated the impact of tilling on the larger soil ecosystem and built scale model no-till planters to find solutions for keeping good soils from going bad.
Teen Conference is planned each year by the State 4-H Council, a group of 38 older teens who serve as ambassadors for the organization and play leadership roles throughout the event.
“4-H offers young people a positive life trajectory that includes role models, citizenship and lifelong learning,” said regional youth development specialist Janice Emery (who oversees the 4-H program in Texas County). “As Teen Conference delegates see these positive older teens in active leadership roles, they realize that they can be leaders too.”
Missouri 4-H is open to all children ages 5-18. For more information, log onto http://4h.missouri.edu or call Emery at the MU Extension office in Houston at 417-967-4545.