FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 29, 2002

By: _________________[insert your name]
(000)000-0000 [insert your phone number], [insert your email address if you check it regularly]

Source: Ami Neiberger, State 4-H Office
(352)846-0996 ext. 237, aneiberger@mail.ifas.ufl.edu 

4-H CAMP OCALA-Learning doesn’t have to be boring, it can be a lot of fun. More than 125 teens attended Leadership Adventure Weekend, the annual communications training last week, including _____ [insert number] teens from _________ [insert your county name] County 4-H program. To mark the organization’s 100th birthday this year, they also planted trees and threw a birthday bash.

___________________ [name of 4-H member], __[age], of ___________________[town] attended and said that s/he learned, “_____________________________________________________________________________________

______________________.” [insert what youth learned]

“To be a good leader, you have to know how to communicate,” said Ami Neiberger, state 4-H public relations coordinator at the University of Florida, who works with the youth planning committee that organizes the event. “This weekend training focused on developing personal communications skills like public speaking and graphic design and dramatic arts, as well as team-building.”

Workshops included intensive public speaking and portfolio preparation seminars, as well as theater arts, photography and poster-making. A workshop on 4-H brand and image taught by Christie Phillips, National 4-H Council senior vice president for marketing, allowed the teens to offer input for marketing 4-H and taught them how to write public service announcements.

The idea is to have fun while learning communication skills and how to get along with others, said organizers. One workshop used a scavenger hunt and wacky props to teach exhibit creation and another used a relay style running game to teach the parts of a press release. The egg drop auction had teams competing with “clover dollars” for odd items like cotton balls and Kleenex, so they could build machines to catch eggs dropped from at least six feet up.

“The 4-H philosophy is that young people learn best through learning by doing,” said Damon Miller, state 4-H program leader at UF. “We believe that young people are profoundly affected by being engaged in a hands on way with subject matter. We provide many opportunities for them to do that in 4-H, whether that is organizing a workshop or planting a tree or giving a speech.”

It was also the first weekend event for the Florida 4-H program this year, which is celebrating its centennial throughout 2002. To mark the occasion, the teens planted 14 live oak trees. Ten trees were planted in a circle in a grassy field overlooking Lake Sellers, representing Florida’s ten 4-H districts. A time capsule was planted in the center of the ring, containing essays and pictures written by teens. Trees representing the four “H”s - head, heart, health and hands - were also planted. The project was funded with a $500 grant from Delft, Inc. through National 4-H Council to the Florida 4-H Council.

The tree-planting grant was actually applied for by teen 4-H members last year, said Neiberger. “Planting trees is a great way to mark 4-H’s 100th birthday, so we thought this weekend was an ideal time to plant them,” she said. “It also ties into our centennial theme, the Power of YOUth, which celebrates the potential of young people to make a difference.”

And that wasn’t the only part of the birthday celebration. A giant cake with “100” spelled out in candles, as well as piñatas and party hats livened up the Saturday night dance after a long day at workshops.

And no birthday would be complete without presents. In honor of 4-H centennial, the teens brought books to donate for the “Tales From Teens: a 4-H Literacy Initiative” project. More than 85 books were collected and will be donated to charity.

4-H Camp Ocala is located in the Ocala National Forest off state road 19. The statewide 4-H program is based at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. 4-H is active through the Florida Cooperative Extension Service in all 67 of Florida’s counties and on the Seminole Tribes reservations in south Florida, impacting more than 287,000 youth ages 5-18 annually. More information about 4-H is available online at www.florida4h.org and about the 4-H centennial at www.4hcentennial.org. 

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