4-Hers return from Washington D.C. with a load of memories

Seven Wyoming kids visit Washington D.C. and experience the big city for the first time with subways, commuter traffic, historic landmarks, and even fireflies. This is not describing a new movie, but rather the experience five Thermopolis and two Laramie 4-H'ers had on their recent trip to the nation's capitol. 

The trip was the second year Hot Springs County 4-H had participated in the leadership conference, Leadership Washington Focus, which is open to 7th and 9th grade 4-H members.

Last year only one Thermopolis representative was sent; but this year, due to a lot of hard work and generous donations, five Thermopolis 4-H kids were able to go. To participate in the trip, the kids were required to help at 4-H camp, do some community service, and assist with fundraising efforts such as a bingo night, dessert auction, and the 4-H/FFA golf tournament. On top of these efforts, Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioner David Rael made a generous donation of a commissioner's tag that the 4-H group was able to sell at an online auction that helped pay for the kids' way to Washington D.C. Hot Springs County 4-H members that participated in the trip were Audrey Axtell, Breeze Petty, Jason Clouse, Spencer Axtell, and Barbara Jean Kissel. 

Once the group arrived, the real fun began. They checked into the National 4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland which was a sight to see all by itself. Jason Clouse described the location as a mansion with a fancy cafe, but Audrey Axtell reported something even more exciting there that no one in the group had seen before:  fireflies! 

The five day adventure (July 5 - 10) included three and a half days of 4-H workshops and leadership training with touring activities in the afternoon. The conference featured members from four states - Wisconsin, Oregon, Virginia, Wyoming - and split kids into working groups to learn how to work as a team, improve public speaking, and understand the importance of cultural differences and how communication can assist in all of these areas.

The group's favorite workshop was an activity centered on these values where two groups were assigned a culture and had to learn how to greet others and what was offensive to their culture then learn about the other group's culture and try to communicate effectively while honoring their assigned cultures and not offending the other's. The kids found the activity to be fun and interesting and learned the only way to get through the situation was to learn as much about other cultures as possible and have open communication.

Seeing the sights in D.C. was an important part of the trip. The Wyoming group was able to visit the Capitol Building, Lincoln Monument, Jefferson Monument, Washington Monument, Holocaust Monument, Air and Space Museum, Martin Luther King Memorial, FDR Memorial, National Archives, and Museum of American History. The FDR Memorial and Air and Space Museum were favorites among the group, but no vacation is complete without some hiccups along the way. The group faced humidity, almost getting lost, and rude commuter traffic - all of which made them happy to return to Wyoming. 

All in all, the 4-H'ers found the trip to be memorable and very worthwhile. The entire group agreed the trip taught them to become better leaders and described it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where they were able to see a lot of the world they weren't going to see in Wyoming.

Breeze Petty stated, "You learned responsibility, not only for taking care of animals, but you had to know where you were going and be responsible for your actions and other people's actions."

Group sponsor Vicki Nichols plans on the group submitting entries at the county fair detailing the trip and the importance of leadership training, which as any 4-H member knows is a goal of the organization.