Each summer, Nassau County 4-H rounds out the 4-H year with our annual awards banquet. This banquet is a chance to recognize our outstanding youth and volunteers. It also provides a chance to reflect on the successes of the last year before moving forward to a new 4-H year in the fall. But wait, why does this matter?
Let’s start with recognition. In 4-H, recognition is: “the acknowledgement and affirmation of the personal growth of an individual or group.” This includes the growth not only of our youth, but our club leaders and volunteers as well. At the banquet, recognition comes in many forms including awards for progress towards goals (project book awards), standards of excellence (for youth and clubs), and other notable achievements (4-H’er of the year, volunteer of the year, etc.).
The many benefits of recognition include:
- Creating a sense of belonging and building a positive environment
- Giving youth and volunteers a chance to reflect on their progress
- Serving as a starting point for setting goals for future growth and success
- Encouraging a desire to continue to participate and excel
Now, let’s talk about reflection. Reflection is a critical piece of the experiential learning model in 4-H. The 3 parts of this model, Do-Reflect-Apply, are key to identifying what someone has learned from an experience and applying that knowledge to other situations in the future. By providing a chance to reflect on the entire 4-H year, youth, volunteers and agents have the opportunity to learn from their experiences and use that knowledge to shape future actions.
Overall, recognition and reflection are important elements to a healthy and viable 4-H program.
This year our banquet is tailgate themed and will be held on Friday, June 29th at 6pm. We ask all families to bring a tailgate dish to share and wear their favorite team’s jersey! Please RSVP by 6/21 by calling 904-530-6353 or emailing llaroche@ufl.edu. We hope to see you there!
For more information on recognition and reflection in 4-H, check out the following resources.
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