4-H teaches local youth to lead

Local 4-H members are making the most out of their summer by mentoring younger club members through the organization’s Leadership Through Counselling Seminar.

Mark Shand is a programs specialist with 4-H and he said the goal is to create a generation of self-sufficient young people.

“When we are going through camps, we want to make sure we’re having progression and building along the leadership.”

The program is about experiential learning and developing skills youth will need to be leaders in their community once they return home, Shand said.

The training for counsellors ran from June 30 to July 4 at the 4-H centre on Battle Lake, and now that camps have begun, the 16 to 21-year-old leaders are getting a taste of working with a younger crowd.

Brandon Bollum, who lives just north of Airdrie, has been attending camps since he was 11.

Now, he is “pretty excited” for his new role within the organization.

“Now that I’ve gone to all the camps as a kid, it’s time to give back and be a counsellor,” said the 17-year-old.

Bollum said he learned a lot, including CPR training, techniques ensuring kids are feeling included and developing games during the camps.

“The schedule looks like it’s going to be pretty much full days every day, not much down time.”

Shand said training this year was “fantastic” but so many young people in one place can often cause problems.

“Any time you have groups of teenagers together, there are going to be personality conflicts,” he said.

“There just really wasn’t any of that this year.”

The 70 young adults will now put their newly-developed skills into practice at various locations including Elk Water Provincial Park, Bonnyville, Westlock, the Peace Region and Westerose.