State Junior Leadership Conference

Introduction

The California 4-H Youth Development program responds to the needs of youth from all backgrounds and all regions of California. It is a program that creates the next generation of leaders; through hands-on, experiential learning, the 4-H Youth Development Program provides non-formal education that encourages self-discovery and self-confidence. 4-H offers numerous events and projects at the local, county, and state levels to engage youth in the areas of Citizenship, Healthy Living, Leadership & Communication, and Science, Engineering, & Technology (SET). However, currently all state wide programming is limited to mainly senior level 4-Hers (youth who attend high school).

Proposal

The Junior Leadership Conference will provide an opportunity for participants to practice and demonstrate leadership qualities, will offer the experience of learning and engaging with other youth from around the state, and will be a forum for the ideas and issues impacting intermediate level 4-Hers. This conference seeks to remedy the previous lack of leadership development programming by engaging these youth in exercises emphasizing interpersonal communication, identity, and self-confidence.

These qualities are expected of senior level 4-Hers, and the Junior Leadership Conference will be the first official statewide event that engages intermediate level youth in learning these leadership skills.  It is hoped that the conference will encourage the kind of discussion and sharing that leads to friendship, trust and self discovery.  Further more, this event will balance introspective self-analysis with practical, outward skills to allow youth the confidence and ability to become positive, successful leaders within and outside of the 4-H Youth Development Program. This JLC can be a vehicle to also introduce SET, Healthy Living, and Citizenship programming to a larger audience than just SLC.

Implementation

My first step would be to contact all the main players in each of the conferences and start a dialogue about the feasibility and planning.  Once the principle volunteers are on board, we can start to organize resources and materials for the program.  I think this would be a great vehicle to reach our junior and intermediate population which is the main stay of our program right now. 

To get JLC up and running I project 2 years before we can attempt our first JLC.

Family Camp

Introduction

Many counties offer membership state to primaries, 5 to 8 years old.  This age group has a vast range in development psychologically, physically, as well as emotionally.  Many counties do not offer age appropriate programming for this segment of our population.  Researchers estimate that children experience half of their learning before four years of age, another 30 percent before the age of eight, and only 20 percent during the remaining years of their education. Therefore, it is important to offer non-formal, exploratory programs focusing on the developmental needs of younger children.

Proposal

To address this issue the state should offer a Conference for Families, aimed at 5 to 10 year olds, in a family camp style.  It would be a weekend event at a suitable location where families could bring their RV's or tents.  Food and the such would be the responsibilities of the families who attend the event.  The Collegiate 4-H groups would organize and plan this camp.  The Collegiate group would organize sessions and workshops designed specifically for the 5 to 10 year old age groups, more like 5 to 7, 8 to 10 since the physical and mental development is so great among this age group. We currently do not have much programming for primaries, even the majority of our summer camps allow registration at 9 to 10 years old.  I believe this might fulfill the programming gap that our younger members do have at this time.

I think that having collegiate 4-H organize this would be an affective way to keep our young collage aged people interested in working with 4-H.  Giving them the forum to introduce new ideas and concepts would be an excellent way to expose parents and volunteers to the vitality that they possess.

Implementation
I would also approach State Leaders Council to be the main organization to maintain this program.  I project 1 year of organization and planning with collegiate 4-H before being able to host the first State Family Camp.

A suggestion from Pat English pointed me towards possibly regional Family camps hosted by sectional councils to develop greater participation among families in the region.  I am seriously considering this alternative measure as highly feasible.