Teen Leadership and Youth Voice on Display at National Training

Nathan Longoria, age 14, and Keyla Sauceda, age 16, attended the 4-H National Healthy Living training at the National 4-H Center in Washington D.C. from September 26-27, 2017. Both are Heroes 4-Health Ambassadors from Cameron County. They were accompanied by Guadalupe Castro, CEP extension agent for 4-H and Youth Development in Cameron County, and Dawn Burton, CEP extension program specialist for Family and Consumer Sciences.

The training had over 25 states represented by youth ambassadors and adult leaders. Delegations were given the opportunity to present the healthy living program implemented in their state. Longoria and Sauceda created a PowerPoint presentation of the Heroes 4-Health Ambassador program in which they participate in Cameron County. They shared their accomplishments, what they are most proud of from the program, and their future plans during the 2017-2018 program year.

Youth were also able to participate in various activities and explore new curricula they could take back for implementation. When asked what their favorite part of the trainings was, Sauceda responded, “The part that I liked the most was getting hear how all the other states are doing with the program and getting a chance to present what we are doing.” Longoria stated, “I really liked being able to meet new people from across the United States and getting to communicate with them about what we all do.”