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Brains, bugs and college tuition

4-H Teen Summer Conference this week

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

By Richard H. Miller, CDPE


Students attend Teen Conference News Network workshop
Photos by Richard Miller, CDPE
 
 
PULLMAN - Allison Trout began her day by touching a human brain. The Burlington, Wash., girl was among 270 teenagers on WSU’s Pullman campus for the 4-H Teen Summer Conference, which includes workshops on everything from human anatomy to speaking in public.

 “We got to touch a real brain, a human brain preserved,” Trout said of “The Amazing Brain” workshop presented Monday by Heather Cochran of the College of Veterinary Medicine. “It was cool being able to see the different parts, not just looking at a picture.” Her next workshop was also not for the squeamish: How to pay for college tuition.

The conference began Sunday and runs through today. “Students from across the state experience a college campus by living in the dorms, eating in the cafeterias and going to classrooms,” said Jan Klein, 4-H teen leadership coordinator for WSU Extension-Spokane.  “They meet other students, and they learn vital career and academic skills.” There’s also time for fun. Teens visit the Student Recreation Center and go to a dance.

The conference emphasizes minority outreach, Klein said. It’s open to non-4-H members and about 40 percent of participants are from ethnic minorities.  The wide variety of workshops reflects that diversity, she said.
 
 
 
Katrina Feimore of Asotin Co. checks camera in Picture This workshop

 
Many involve life skills, such as resumé building, interviewing and starting a business. Others sound like just plain fun. One poses this question: “Have you ever wondered what horses look like on the inside?” Another lets teens get “up close and personal with hissing cockroaches and tarantulas.”
 
Michelle Gonzales of Warden, Wash., looked at animal bones in “Coffin Bones, Spavins, and Trichobezoars! Oh My!” She studied how magnets work in a physics workshop, and she learned about financial aid.

“There’s a bunch of scholarships out there to help me pay for college,” she said. “I’m going to be a junior this fall, and I’m already planning on going to WSU.”

She also learned how to make friends in a social skills course – “I’m not good at stepping out of my bubble,” she admitted – and how to repel foes in a self-defense workshop. “I’m a wrestler,” she said, and the techniques could give her an edge both on the mat and on the streets.

The annual conference is managed by WSU’s Center for Distance and Professional Education. Klein praised conferencing director Kelly Newell and coordinator Tamara Kirk. “Kelly and Tamara are wonderful resources for creative ideas. They also have a great way of keeping us on track with our budget.”

Jose Duran of Mattawa, Wash., learned a bit about budgeting at the “Kids Who Mean Busine$$” workshop. “They talked to me about what I enjoy doing, what I could open as a business. I said I enjoy cars. They talked about how to advertise around the community.”

Duran said he got a lot more out of the conference than he expected. “It is very interactive,” said Duran, who starts at Columbia Basin College this fall. “I wish I’d learned these things when I was younger.”

Daniel Moses from Keller, Wash., took an engineering workshop Monday morning. “I liked the building the bridge part,” he said.  “It was difficult, but it was fun.”

Next up for Moses was “Entomology: Up Close and Personal!,” which was presented by WSU bug expert Richard S. Zack.
 
Why would Moses be interested in entomology? Simple: “Bugs are cool, man.”


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