The Pennsylvania State Leadership Conference Experience!

Hello Pennsylvania 4-H! It's that time of the month again! So, I always have a difficult time trying to think about what to write and how to write it. This month it's not so difficult for me. I have all of the State Leadership Conference to talk about!

From the first moment when we opened the doors on Friday night, I knew it was going to be an awesome weekend! I mean I was standing at the door as people came in, and it just when it seemed like everybody had come into the room, more people poured in! The amount of people that were there in itself was totally awesome. We had approximately 425 people in attendance, which is more people than SLC has ever had before! That doesn't even include speakers, presenters, the Council, staff, and the Kentucky delegates! I was quite a sight to see that many 4-Her's in one place at the same time.

Flexing with former Council secretary, Cecilia

The opening ceremonies that followed after those games were no disappointment either! First, a few of the Council members came in as our superhero alter ego and tried to catch that notorious Dark Clover, but alas, he was too fast. Then we did a superhero quick change and reappeared in our Council personas. It was pretty thrilling dancing in to the song of my own choosing and then getting everyone on their feet to dance too for our council song! Following up our opening, Ms. Christy Bartley, Dr. Dennis Calvin, and Mr. Matthew Meals offer their words of wisdom and encouragement. Then, we had a fantastic presentation by Mr. Cecil Shelton about how everyone can be a superhero by stand up for what they believe.

Cecil Shelton presenting at opening ceremonies

After Cecil's presentation the Clown Nose Club facilitated great get-up-and-go activities that forced us to do awkward things so that we could become more comfortable around other people. To finish up the night, there was a neon dance! It was the first time that we had dance on Friday night, and I it went pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Cloverbear during the neon dance!

Saturday morning and early afternoon was workshop time! In the morning, I was in Dr. Jan Scholl's workshop about eating healthier. We made some tasty smoothies and awesome hats!

Fun times in morning workshops!

In the afternoon, I was in Cecil Shelton's workshop about diversity. He showed us that there is diversity everywhere, and although we are different, we aren't alone. That night we had the formal dinner and had an amazing keynote speaker, Ben Glenn. He talked about using everything about you, including things that you may like about yourself, to your advantage and how you can always find a way to make the best of a situation, even if it isn't how you meant it to be. He illustrated this concept in a chalk drawing!

The finished chalk drawing

At the dance with Cecil Shelton

Afterward we had the formal dance to end the great day that we had! 

Finally came the last day of SLC. We had a presentation by the Kentucky delegates about their 4-H program! Maybe the Council will get to see their program first-hand (fingers crossed)! Collegiate 4-H talked to the delegation about their college programs, Jean Lonie spoke, and everyone did closing reflections. Then we wished everyone safe travels home after a thrilling State Leadership Conference!

Jesse Isenberg
2013/2014 Pennsylvania State 4-H Council
Vice President of Operations