Clearwater County 4-H attend workshop
Clearwater County 4-H had seven youth attend the Building Leadership and Understanding (BLU) leadership workshop. Minnesota 4-H hosted BLU on Feb. 27–28 at Concordia Language Villages, bringing together youth from surrounding areas. During BLU, 4-H’ers worked on building communication and leadership skills.
In February, youth from across Minnesota gathered to participate in the annual 4-H Building Leadership and Understanding (BLU) workshop. BLU is facilitated by youth leaders from the Minnesota 4-H State Ambassador program.
This year’s theme, “Bloom Into Leadership,” gave youth the opportunity to participate in hands-on activities where they learned about different communication styles, how to handle conflict with confidence, and how to understand their unique approach to teamwork. Participants also learned about emergency preparedness and disaster relief while creating mini first aid kits and tie blankets. Youth participated in two hour-long workshops on a topic of their choosing, with options ranging from STEM to performing arts.
BLU is open to youth in grades 6 and up. Using a youth-teaching-youth model, the 4-H BLU leadership workshops are developed and led by 4-H State Ambassadors. Minnesota 4-H State Ambassadors are youth selected to serve as spokespeople for 4-H and help educate youth and adults about the importance of youth development, leadership, citizenship, service, teamwork, and other valuable life skills.
“My favorite part about BLU this year was definitely the small group time we had learning about leadership and conflict resolution. Although, a close second was all the delicious multicultural meals!” said Ella Howard of Clearwater County 4-Her.
“BLU has a very good atmosphere for making friends. I made a few within the first day. Another great thing about BLU was the food—every meal was amazing. But for me, my favorite part of the entire weekend was the dance. I had a lot of fun!” said Josiah Howard of Clearwater County 4-Her.
To learn more about 4-H in Clearwater County, contact 4-H Extension Educator Kara Waldvogel at 218-694-6151 or visit www.4-H.umn.edu.