As the 4-H State Ambassador year comes to a close, the Minnesota 4-H State Ambassador leadership team (SALT) is looking back at an incredible year with some incredible people.
The Minnesota 4-H State Ambassadors, a group of 30 youth, first met last July to begin planning the year’s events for 4-H’ers across the state.
As State Ambassadors, we dove right into the fair season, with many of us staying at the 4-H Building at the Minnesota State Fair for 14 days: greeting people at the door, sharing information with fairgoers, selling T-shirts and plushies at Clovermart, attending events and supporting the thousands of youth showcasing their best work.
As the air started to cool down, we began to plan our regional workshops, Building Leadership and Understanding (BLU). In February, three BLU workshops across the state reached over 200 youth. Through our planning and facilitation, 4-H’ers learned about empathy, open-mindedness and how art and mental health service connect.
When winter turned to spring, the State Ambassador group turned our to focus to planning the statewide leadership conference, Youth Exploring Learning and Leadership Opportunities (YELLO).
Months of program planning and outreach culminated in four days of leadership, learning and fun at YELLO for nearly 150 young people earlier this June. Participants learned about personal and community values through small-group activities, listened to inspiring speakers and gave back to the University of Minnesota Morris community through service projects.
This event was a wonderful way for our State Ambassadors to celebrate the year while doing what we love the most— serving the Minnesota 4-H program and the young people in it.
Of course, our review wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging all the work our State Ambassadors do outside of these events—whether it's by planning our monthly service challenges, recording Cloverchat podcast episodes, attending National 4-H conferences, participating in statewide meetings, visiting county programs and clubs, or everything in between.
Overall, our State Ambassadors contributed over 9,000 hours during our year of service! We are so grateful to have the support of so many leaders and volunteers throughout the state—none of this would be possible without them.
As sad as we are to see this year come to a close, we look forward with hope and excitement to welcoming our next State Ambassador team.
Thank you for a wonderful year,
The Minnesota 4-H State Ambassador leadership team