This year, four members of the All Star team (Mia Zimmer, Henia Mackenroth, Amber Miller, and adviser Darlene Miller) represented the Placer County 4-H program at the 2014 SLC, held at U.C. Santa Cruz. SLC, or the 4-H State Leadership Conference, is an event that was created to connect and inspire the various county members in the California 4-H organization. The theme for the conference this year was Raiders of the Lost Leadership. The letters of SLC were incorporated into the theme as they stood for Seek, Learn, and Change and each day was centered around one of these inspirational words. Throughout the conference, three motivational speakers passed their messages on to the attending 4-Hers and stressed the importance of facing and tackling difficult issues both personally and as a team.
The Placer County 4-H delegates not only got to make new 4-H friends, but they also gained insightful ideas from other young leaders that could be implemented within their own clubs and county program. Over the three days at the conference, the All Star team took part in educational sessions where they were able to learn new skills. The All Star Extravaganza session stressed the importance of proper communication and the All Stars learned the difference between dialogue and discussion, and the value of articulation. The True Colors session explained how to strengthen a team by taking note of various personality types and harnessing their abilities. The Placer County All Star team hopes to implement their new understandings and activities to create more effective officer teams, community services, and projects throughout the Placer county program.