Revolution of Responsibility-The Teen Version

  One of the big events our teens look forward to each year is district teen retreat.  This year it was extra special becuase it was our first teen retreat with our new South Central District.  This year's event was held in New Bern which was a new place for all of us to travel to and added to the excitement of this annual event.

 This year we had a delegation of eight representing Robeson County.  County Council officers Dillon McCartney, Alexus Jones, and Megan Hurst attend the event.  Also fellow 4-H Club members Christian Graham, Michiko Hill, T'Asia Shelby, and Gia Williams rounded out the delegation.  Their adult representative was our own 4-H Agent, Shea Ann DeJarnette.  The delegation left on Friday afternoon to arrive just after seven pm.  The retreat was held at a church on the outskirts of town.  The even gave our delegates a chance to meet new 4-H members and reconnect with some from the counties that made the district move with us.
  We joined the other counties in attendance with dinner from Golden Corral.  After dinner it was time to break out into county huddles to work on our skit and chant (or cheer) for the spirit stick.  As the counties did that the District Officer Candidates set up their booths to introduce them selves to the voting population in attendance.  Then it was time to visit with the candidates  ask them questions, check out their information, and see what kind of cool stuff they brought with them.

  After absorbing the information it was time for member choice.  What I mean by that is members could take part in a scavenger hunt downstairs or a dance upstairs.  The district officers D.J.'d the event from their smart phones, iPod,  and computers.  There was line dancing, just dancing, and a lot of hanging out and socializing under the watchful eyes of 4-H Agents, Program Assistants, and Volunteers.  After all the fun we headed to the hotel which was about 15 minutes down the road for our evening pizza snack and then off to our rooms and time for bed.
  The next morning we had breakfast in the lobby.  Dillon even learned how to make his first ever waffle.  After we were full and packed it was time to head back to the church to get back at it.  First we turned in our ballots after voting for district officers.
Then it was time to get down to business.  The business of workshops that is.  We all attended three workshops.  One was on team building and was lead by Erin Morgan the 4-H Agent in Jones County.  We did a variety of activities that made us think about how we communicate with others and tested our leadership abilities while working as part of a team.
  We also attended a workshop on Diversity.  This workshop was taught by Sarah Harrelson.  The 4-H members learned about stereotyping others and the dangers of pigeonholing people in terms of stereotypes 
  Our final workshop was called IMPROVe.  There were three different stations where we had to think creatively and spontaneously to reach the goal.  This type of workshop helps with public speaking abilities and being able to speak extemporaneously   It was a lot of fun too!
  At that point we were famished from playing, er working so hard.  So we broke for lunch from Subway and sat with our new friends and had fun getting to know each other.  When we got done the winners of the election were announced.  Tyler Sharp of Wilson County is our new President, Robert Perry of New Hanover County is Vice President, Lauren Hardin of Duplin County is Secretary/Treasurer, and Abigail Dunn of Lenoir County is Reporter.  They will be inducted into their offices at 4-H Congress which takes place in June.
  We then went head to head, county against county, as we competed for the District Spirit Stick.  We presented our cheer, as well as our skit.  Thank you to our delegates who worked so hard to make that happen.

  As the District officers determined who would win the spirit stick it was up to us to handle the community service project.  We had two project going on at the same time.  Some of us made thank you notes that would be sent to the soldiers   While the rest worked on placemats that are used on the trays at the Veterans hospital to brighten the day of a Veteran.  It gave us a chance to be creative and have fun.

   We want to give a big shout out to the South East District Officers and Advisors who made this such a great event for all of us.  When it was all said and done we got on the van and headed back to Robeson County.  We're bringing back new skills and ideas, and we were a little more exhausted then we were when we left.  All in all we had a great time and we can't wait for Congress.