4-H teens train with TiLT

Thirteen Brunswick County teens trained and planned for the 2012 4-H year from Feb. 10-12 through an innovative 4-H program called Teens in Leadership Training (TiLT). These teens spent the weekend at Fort Caswell and were trained in experiential learning, ages and stages, team building, program planning and more.
TiLT teens lead, supervise, help plan and assist with Brunswick County 4-H Summer Fun programming and school enrichment. This is the second year of training and assisting these teens to become leaders in Brunswick County.
At the weekend retreat, Alexis and Angelique Apple, Kenan Bridges, Sammi Lawrence, Amber Yurgel and their coach Portia Gause, a summer fun coordinator who received additional training earlier in the year, helped lead and teach a program that will be taken into area schools, after-school programs and used for summer enrichment throughout the county called “Health Rocks.”
Health Rocks is a series of curricula, developed by the National 4-H Council, with the goal of reducing tobacco, alcohol and drug use through hands-on lessons designed to be taught by teens and adults working as partners. The TiLT teens will be in the schools and specifically plan on using the curricula for a three-day “Super Hero” training camp this summer.
As a result of a grant from the N.C. Osteoporosis Foundation, teens were part of creating a curriculum for kindergarten students teaching the importance of calcium, exercise and vitamin D for strong bones. Cheryle Syracuse, family and consumer science staff; Blair Green, 4-H agent; Angie Lawrence, 4-H program assistant; and Kenan Bridges and Janzen Jones, 2011 TiLT Teens, guided the teens in this process.
This grant provided money to create kits to take into the schools, as well as assisted with the purchase of retreat T-shirts that will be worn when teaching this curriculum. The grant has also provided funds for TiLT teens to teach this curriculum to five other surrounding counties for the same purpose.
Other activities that engaged the teens in planning camps and school enrichment included hands-on learning of the 4-H electricity project led by Sybil Simmons, a long-time 4-H volunteer; investigating “Reading Makes the Best Better” kits donated from a grant through EFNEP and deciding what could be used for camps and enrichment; and discovering photography through a hands-on workshop taught by Frank and Stacie Walters from Time 2 Remember Portrait Studios. Also, Donna Michaux helped with the kits and helped teens plan for Super Wet Science Camp and other day camps for the upcoming 2012 Summer Fun season.
The 2012 participants included teens from last year’s Teens in Leadership Training: Alexis and Angelique Apple, John and Dillon Bernheisel, Kenan Bridges, Sammi Lawrence, John Macon and Savanna Michaux and Amber Yurgel. New to the group this year are Olivia Bowers, Camille Glaze, Andrew Walton and Garrett Williams.
These teens range in age from 13-16-years-old and attend different schools from throughout Brunswick County. The 4-H staff of Blair Green, Angie Lawrence and Gina Britton developed the program. Other leaders include Portia Gause and Donna Michaux.
TiLT is a teen and adult partnership teaching youth leadership through community service, planning, preparing and executing school enrichment, summer camps, and after school activities.
To learn more about Brunswick County 4-H and how to participate in activities like these, contact Blair Green, 4-H extension agent, at blair_wooten@ncsu.edu or Angie Lawrence, 4-H program assistant, at angie_lawrence@ncsu.edu or call the Cooperative Extension office at 253-2610. Visit its website at www.brunswickco4h.shutterfly.com/ or blog at http://brunswick4h.wordpress.com.