Volunteers Click

The beginning of February is always a great time in 4-H because it marks our annual 4-H State Volunteer Leaders Conference. As in previous years this one was held at the Sheraton Imperial in Durham. The theme for 2011 was "Click it with 4-H: Play, Work, Reward." This year 12 volunteers and staff members represented Robeson County at the conference. We even had three first time attendees; Veronica Powell, Rhonda Drye, and Jeff Wright. We started Saturday morning very early travelling to Raleigh so we could be ready to start in our workshops at 8:30. There were over 50 workshops offered this year with topics which ranged from developmental cycles of youth to how to properly shake someones hands, livestock judging and yes, getting down and dirty in the garden. Our volunteers attended leadership workshops, electric, livestock judging, gardening, etiquette, and much more. They are so excited to share what they learned and put it all into action here in Robeson County.

After attending three workshops in the morning we had a break for a box lunch and district meetings. Veronica Powell is the newly elected district secretary for our district and saved the day by arriving with minutes she had taken at the last meeting which was district fall day. We had several announcements about the conference and various items during the meeting then took a short break to check into our rooms. After checking out the accommodations and freshening up we headed back down for the remainder of the workshops.

Our own 4-H Agent Shea Ann DeJarnette partnered with Angela Shaver, the Bladen County 4-H Agent to teach two leadership workshops. "Are You Up to the Leadership Challenge" is a gold level ACE class that is based on the book Leadership Challenge by Kouzes & Posner. The second workshop, "Taking Green from Good to Great" is an emerald level ACE course based on the book by Jim Collins, From Good to Great. Shea Ann also partnered with Christy Strickland our Robeson County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent to teach about our Summer Fun Etiquette workshop. They even gave the volunteers their very own cd's filled with curriculum, an etiquette book, and activities that they can use in their counties.

After the workshops, volunteers had time to check out the items in the country store. The items are donated and sold to raise money for the state volunteer leaders association. They also had time to buy tickets for the basket raffle, and check out the items that would be sold at auction later in the night. Then it was time to get ready for the big event of the evening, the banquet.

The banquet started with a lovey dinner and quickly turned into the recognition event of 4-H's strongest assest, our volunteers. Wyatt Richardson with Monsanto spoke with the group about his companies dedication to 4-H and supporting the volunteer effort. Monsanto not only believes in the idea of supporting youth in their agricultural education, they support it financially. Monsanto has a program that allows farmers in each county to sign up through Monsanto for a drawing and donate $2,500 to their favorite local youth organization that promotes agriculture such as 4-H. After a moving message on our strong partnership with Monsanto, Dr. Joe Zublena, our new Extension Director addressed the group and thanked them for their efforts. Dr. Marshall Stewart, Department Head and State Program Leader for the Department of 4-H Youth Development and Family and Consumer Sciences not only thanked the group for their efforts but gave them an update on our state budget system and what that means to them and the 4-H program. He asked our volunteers to let others know, especially lawmakers, how important our budget is to the development of youth in our state. After the speakers our volunteers from around the state were recognized for their hard work and leadership in the counties. Awards are given in a variety of areas based on district and overall work.

After our dinner the group retired to another room at the Sheraton where were helped support our 4-H Volunteers through an auction. Items were made and donated to help raise more than $1,000 to support our volunteers and their training efforts.

After a good nights sleep we checked out and headed downstairs Sunday morning for our breakfast buffet and key note speaker. Dr. Jim Clark has been working on a history of the 4-H program and gave our leaders a history lesson of their role in building not only this incredible youth organization but also their own volunteer leaders association. He has written a book that is in the process of being published and will serve as a great history of our proud North Carolina 4-H program. After his address it was time for the business of swearing in the new officers on both the state and district levels. Veronica Powell was officially sworn in as the South Central District Secretary. We know she will do a fantastic job and will support her however we can as she fulfills her role.

After getting our clickers and memory sticks we piled up in the van and headed back to Robeson County. We had a fun filled learning adventure and I am sure you will hear more about it in the weeks ahead, especially at the next 4-H County Council and Volunteers Leaders Meeting in March.