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Impact Report

For plan Youth Leadership Development (Valencia County)
Date October 29, 2010, 9:11 pm
For Objective Short-term Show short-term objectives
Impact Report Leadership Development is a key component of Youth Development in Valencia County’s successful 4-H program. 4-H members have many opportunities to develop skills in communication, teamwork, and decision-making by assuming responsibilities within their clubs, county council, and state leadership teams. In Valencia County there are many opportunities for youth to develop and display their leadership skills. The 4-H youth in Valencia County are very active in their club and county leadership roles and have done an outstanding job over the past year representing the county. In order to develop leadership skills, County Council Officers will attend the local officer training developed by the 4-H Agent, host a county-wide club officer training for the clubs in Valencia County, and conduct bi-monthly County Council Meetings. Youth will apply for the Diplomat team and host county-wide monthly “Welcome to NM 4-H” meetings. Youth will apply for the Junior Livestock board and host at least two livestock project workshops. Finally, Valencia County will have a delegation attend each of the State Leadership Activities. County Officers: Council Officer Training: County Council Officers participated in an Officer Training and Team Building workshop presented by the 4-H Agent. All nine of the Council Officers attending this training learned about their roles, responsibilities and expectations as Council Officers. Five of the nine officers were serving in a County Leadership role for the first time. The Agent presented information on running a proper business meeting, and what the meetings should include. This training was used as an introduction into the office they will be serving and as a planning session for the Officer workshops they presented at the County-wide Club Officer Training. Team building activities were used to construct trust and friendships between the team members. These activities were done with just the Officer team and then similar activities were conducted with the Officers and Diplomats together as the Valencia County Leadership Team. The Officers new to the County Leadership Team expressed that the information provided helped them better understand their expected duties and how a proper meeting should run. Over the past year, the Agent has observed an improvement in the professionalism and organization of the Officer team Club Officer Training: County Council Officers presented a Club Officer training to county 4-H’ers who serve (or would like to serve) as Officers in their club. Each Council Officer prepared and presented a workshop on the office they serve. Each Officer did their Officer specific workshop twice to give everyone present the chance to learn about the offices they were interested in. Club members present gained the knowledge necessary to conduct their club meetings. Twenty-nine youth representing 12 of the 13 clubs in the county were represented at the training. Surveyed 4-H’ers participating in the training said they learned how to be better leaders in their clubs, learned what is expected of them in their office, how difficult in can be to be a good leader and how to run a proper meeting. County 4-H Council: County Council Officers organized and conducted six Council Meetings over the past year. These meetings are used to develop and organize county club contribution to community service projects, fundraisers, and social events. The 4-H Agent acts as an advisor to the County Council. The Agent assists the county Council Officers in preparing meeting agendas and business to be conducted as well as minutes from the meetings and treasurers reports. By working hand in hand with the youth, the youth gain leadership and business skills they will use later in life. County Diplomats: County Diplomat Training: County Diplomats participated in a Leadership Team Training and Team Building workshop with the County Council Officers presented by the 4-H Agent and Home Economist. The five County Diplomats attended this training where they participated in team building activities as a group and with the officers. These activities were used to facilitate friendships and reliance among team members. While at this training, Diplomats learned more about their roles, responsibilities and expectations while serving the county. They were all reacquainted with the material in the Welcome to NM 4-H project and helped plan the monthly workshops. They also worked on the development of their team community service project. This was the second time the Diplomats in this county had gone through any formal training and they all expressed their gratitude on being trained and included as part of the Valencia County Leadership team. New Mexico 4-H: The County Diplomats helped 4-H staff administer the monthly Welcome to NM 4-H workshops. The Diplomats helped teach new 4-H’ers about the 4-H program while working through the New Mexico 4-H workbook. The youth who participated in these workshops expressed their enjoyment of being able to work with and learn from experienced 4-H youth. The Diplomats enjoyed working with the new 4-H’ers and expressed how much teaching others about 4-H enhanced their leadership skills as well as their knowledge of the overall program. Junior Livestock Board (JLB): For the past two years, the Agent has tried to revive the Junior Livestock Board in Valencia County. The purpose of this group is to give older, more experienced 4-H’ers the opportunity to teach new and younger 4-H’ers about the 4-H Livestock projects and aid them as they prepare for shows and fairs. This year, we had two applications from youth wishing to participate on the board. The youth who did apply, helped the Agent at the different livestock tag days as well as helped youth with their livestock at our County Expo. Because of the low number of applications, the Agent, along with the two applicants, worked on recruiting 4-H’ers to participate next year. Four potential applicants were identified and asked to help with the “Prepare for Fair” livestock workshops presented by the Agent, the JLB and the Valencia County Extension Intern. Two “Prepare for Fair” livestock project workshops were presented to 4-H youth enrolled in livestock projects or who will be in the future. These workshops provided youth with information on livestock selection, nutrition and feeding, veterinary care, showmanship, and preparing for the various fairs the youth can participate in. Twenty-five youth participated in the two workshops presented. 71% of youth surveyed strongly agreed that the information gained was valuable in helping them prepare for fairs this year and in the future. 81% felt the most useful information gained was about livestock bio-security. State Camps and Workshops: Senior Leadership Retreat: The State 4-H Diplomats host Senior Leadership Retreat for all Senior 4-H’ers in New Mexico. This retreat provides 4-H’ers with hands-on workshops and activities designed to increase life skills related to teamwork, character building, community service, goal setting, leadership and self-discipline. Twenty-nine Senior 4-H’ers from Valencia County participated in this year’s retreat. Of the twenty-nine 4-H’ers attending, 19 were from the New Mexico Boys and Girls Ranch. Of that group, 84% had never had the opportunity to attend a leadership retreat like SLR before. 4-H’ers who attended this event expressed their increased awareness of their own personal leadership skills as well as the importance of working with others. One Valencia County 4-H’er ran for and was elected as a State 4-H Diplomat at SLR. He did so because of his previous attendance at SLR. His previous positive experiences at this retreat are what led to his decision to take on this State Leadership role. Youth-Get-Away: The State 4-H Officers host Youth-Get-Away for all Novice and Junior 4-H’ers. This cam provides 4-H’ers with hands-on workshops and activities designed to increase life skills related to teamwork, cooperation, character building, leadership and goal setting. Nine Novice and Junior 4-H’ers from Valencia County participated in this year’s Youth Get Away camp in April. Three of the 4-H’ers attending had never had the opportunity to attend a youth camp like YGA before. The 4-H’ers who attended this camp all expressed their knowledge gained bout leadership and their goals of someday running for a State Leadership role.