Category: Cooperative Extension
Opportunities for Teens in 4-H
March 11, 2024 Written by Jennifer Trunfio, 4-H Youth Development Program Coordinator
If you are a teen or parent of a teen looking for some new experiences, 4-H has you covered! If you like to work with children younger than you, learn about ways to be healthy or explore engineering topics, you can do all of these things through 4-H. As a teenager in Delaware, you can join the Health and Wellness Ambassador Club, the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) Team, and the Camp Counselor Club (New Castle County). Once you have joined a Delaware 4-H club, teenagers can become Jr Leaders, join the county Jr Council, attend Jr Leader Weekends and conferences, plan younger member events, and apply for State Teen Council.
Delaware 4-H Health & Wellness Ambassadors
Delaware 4-H Health & Wellness Ambassadors meet monthly via Zoom and are official representatives and promoters of holistic healthy living, including fitness, nutrition, mindfulness, and substance use prevention. You get to learn, share your passion for health and wellness, and gain valuable community outreach experience.
Joining the STEAM Team means you are becoming a STEAM Ambassador. The STEAM Ambassadors will lead by teaching STEAM-based activities to others. STEAM Ambassadors meet on Zoom, learn a STEAM topic activity, and then take it back to their youth groups, schools and/or communities.
Camp Counselor Club (C-3)
In New Castle County you can join the Camp Counselor Club (C-3) and learn leadership skills, meet teens from around the county, help plan the 4-H day camps, and serve as a Counselor over the summer. Kent and Sussex Counties also have teen counselors for their camps, but you need to be a member in another 4-H club to be a day camp counselor.
Once you are a registered member of 4-H either in one of the previously mentioned specialty clubs or in a community club, there are many ways 4-H teens can be active in their communities, clubs, county, the state, and nationally.
Jr Council Club
Teens can join their county’s Jr Council club where teens can plan and support county events, perform community service acts, and develop additional public presentation and leadership skills. They also have opportunities to attend national conferences in Washington DC as well as other locations across the United States. And just for fun, 4-H teens can attend Leadership retreats and conferences (one held on the University of Delaware campus) or the 4-H Formal.
Ready to learn more about what 4-H has to offer you? Contact your county Cooperative Extension office or visit the Delaware 4-H website udel.edu/4-H