July 22, 2019

News Release

For Immediate Release

EDITOR'S NOTE: Members of the media may contact the Rutgers 4‑H Youth Development Program by phone at 848-932-3597 or by email at nj4h@njaes.rutgers.edu.

New Jersey 4-H'ers Develop Leadership Skills at Leadership Washington Focus Conference

Sixteen New Jersey 4‑H members are ready to take on the challenges of leadership after experiencing the vibrant, living classroom of the nation's capital as part of Leadership Washington Focus (LWF), an intensive 4‑H leadership development program for middle-school youth held July 15–19 at the National 4‑H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

The New Jersey delegates who attended the conference were: Alycia Klaus of Burlington County; Kate DiGilio from Cape May County; Isabela Saltar from Cumberland County; Cassidy Hunt and Annabelle Majorossy from Hunterdon County; Mahi Gupta and Kailey Sinko from Morris County; Lacey Jernstedt, Grace Leavitt, and Alex Morgan from Ocean County; Sky Sedlacek from Passaic County; Fashia Comerford from Salem County; Sophia Gaudet, Jacquilin Kirby, and Rishikesh Ravi from Somerset County; and Paige Patrie from Sussex County.

LWF provided 4‑H members from across the country with the opportunity to travel to Washington, DC and participate in experiential learning that develops and enhances leadership competency in the four key areas of critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and confidence; preparing youth to return home and lead the way toward positive changes in their own communities.

"Leadership Washington Focus provided a valuable learning experience for New Jersey 4‑H Members. Our delegation met 4‑H members from Wyoming, California, Ohio, West Virginia, Michigan, Virginia, Maryland, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Vermont, as well as listened to motivational speakers and participated in workshops that developed communication skills, increased leadership capacity and built lifetime skills," says Jeannette Rea Keywood, 4‑H Agent, Department of 4‑H Youth Development.

The 4‑H Youth Development Program is part of Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Cooperative Extension, 4‑H educational programs are offered to all youth, grades K–13, on an age-appropriate basis, without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, marital status, domestic partnership status, military service, veteran status, and any other category protected by law. For more information about the New Jersey 4‑H Program visit the 4‑H website at nj4h.rutgers.edu. Like New Jersey 4‑H on Facebook.

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Cooperating Agencies: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Boards of County Commissioners. Rutgers Cooperative Extension, a unit of the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, is an qual opportunity program provider and employer.