BROWNWOOD — 4-H members ages 13-19 will have an opportunity to hone their life skills during several 4-H programs at the Teen Leadership Retreat Jan. 4-6 at the Texas 4-H Conference Center on Lake Brownwood.
Community service is a large part of the Texas 4-H program. This year’s Teen Leadership Retreat will include a community service project in support of military veterans. (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo)
“The Teen Leadership Retreat will have 4-H volunteers, 4-H specialists and college professors conducting hands-on educational workshops with 4-H members from throughout the state,” said Mark Carroll, conference center program director. “This year’s program will focus on increasing knowledge and skills in five 4-H project areas — robotics, fitness challenge, dancing, ‘Bubbles in Food’ and a veteran’s service project.”
The retreat will begin with registration at 7 p.m. Jan. 4, followed by general orientation at 9 p.m., then an adult chaperone orientation at 9:30 p.m.
Jan. 5 activities start at 7:30 a.m., followed by a flag ceremony and breakfast. The first of the day’s three general assemblies will begin at 9 a.m. and the rest of the day will be devoted to concurrent sessions related to the five featured programming areas.
Carroll said this year’s veterans service project will be to make fleece blankets for injured or disabled veterans and then to deliver them to a veterans’ facility in the area.
‘Bubbles in Food’ is a food-science program that gives kids hands-on experiences with food products and experiments at an age-appropriate level, Carroll explained. During this program, young people learn how to make foods and other items, learn about food safety, and participate in taste tests and other fun activities.
He said the fitness challenge provides youth the opportunity to compete in fun physical activities while also measuring their knowledge and skills in the areas of sports nutrition, physical fitness and careers associated with fitness.
“Robotics has been a popular area of interest for many of our 4-H’ers who enjoy science and technology, and we know many participants will want to be involved in this program area,” he said. “And dance is an area of interest for both the boys and girls, giving them an opportunity to develop both their dancing and social skills.”
Carroll said while this is a learning retreat, the main ingredient for the entire weekend is “a sense of fun.”
Individual registration is $105 for youth and $70 for adult chaperones. Fees include two-nights lodging, four meals, snacks and program fees.
Each county sending 4-H youth to the retreat must provide adult chaperones for the weekend.
Online registration is currently available through Dec. 28 at http://texas4hcenter.tamu.edu .
For more information, contact Carroll at 325-784-5482, jmcarroll@ag.tamu.edu .
-30-
