4-H Teen Leadership & Community Change Conference

January 21-22, 2012

By Betsy Knox

Over 140 participants from 32 Michigan counties gathered at Kettunen Center to learn teen leadership skills and how to be agents of change in their home communities. A sampling of sessions offered include: Get Involved in a 2012 Political Campaign; Service Activities that Build Career Skills; Communicating through Conflict, Generating Ideas & Moving to Action; The Photovoice Project: Recording Your Life & Community and Seven Billion People: Global Sustainability & Limited Resources. We also offered a session called Outdoor Winter Club Activities, taking advantage of the beautiful surroundings and natural teaching lab that Kettunen Center provides.

As a result of participating in the program, 95% of the participants think that they can make a difference in their communities; 90% feel a sense of responsibility to their communities; and 94% will teach others what they learned at the conference. This conference was supported by the Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation, the Sandra Clarkson Stuckman Endowment and the Turner-Ousterhout Endowment.