4-H Challenge Camp Teaches Life Skills Along With Fun and Games

By Kyle Peveto

LSU AgCenter

PELICAN, La. — For the middle schoolers at the Northwest Region 4-H Challenge Camp last week, teaming up to play cornhole, kickball and giant volleyball wasn’t just fun and games.

Life skills like first aid, dressing for success and cooking a tasty kebab were intertwined with friendly competition at the Clara Springs Camp and Conference Center in DeSoto Parish.

At the two-day camp, which was titled “Get in the Game with 4-H,” the 4-H’ers were meant to learn teamwork and cooperation — lessons they will need in high school, for careers and to build healthy relationships, said camp coordinator Destiny Hightower, an assistant 4-H agent in Claiborne Parish.

“You have to be a team player,” Hightower said. “You have to know how to work together and communicate. So, in a lot of our sessions, they’re learning important aspects of that.”

Each of the five LSU AgCenter 4-H Youth Development regions holds an annual Challenge Camp for seventh and eighth grade students. These years mark a time of transition, said Jeannie Crnkovic, the Northwest Regional 4-H Coordinator, and 4-H agents see some students in that age group become less involved.

“We focus on seventh and eighth graders because that is a pivotal time in a youth’s development for social skills, decision-making, being part of a team and learning how to work with a team” she said.

4-H programs teach important life skills, Crnkovic said, and they create a comfortable environment for youths to be themselves.

“The things that these kids deal with — peer pressure is huge for middle schoolers,” Crnkovic said. “You can have bullying going on. I don’t see a lot of that in 4-H. 4-H’ers are a very accepting group.”

When the 72 campers arrived Thursday evening at the camp, each received a long-sleeved, football-inspired jersey in 4-H green with the number 26 emblazoned across the back to highlight the 2026 event. Remaining focused on the theme, they dined on hot dogs and other tailgate party food and competed in a cornhole tournament.

While teamwork was the primary goal, camaraderie was encouraged. In today’s world, Hightower sees that youths are digitally connected, but she worries that they receive less socialization. The camp offers an opportunity for 4-H’ers to connect.

“I hope that they make connections and get to socialize with each other more,” Hightower said. “And I hope that they say, ‘Oh, I love this camp.’”

On Friday morning, the campers rotated through a series of educational and play-filled sessions. Anthony Hubbard, Caddo Parish 4-H assistant agent, taught the basics of robotics programming by directing the students to watch a small robot’s movements and then line up premade cards that described the robot’s movements. The robot’s not smart, he tells them. The programmer is smart.

“Programming is a huge field, and it’s going to make a difference in their life,” Hubbard said. “If we can get one kid interested in programming, that’s great. That’s their future. For the rest of them, just knowing how things work. They’re learning something new. They’re thinking in a new way.”

Evie Carpenter, a camper from Jackson Parish, said that learning about coding was fun and a little unexpected. She came to camp to meet people.

“I wanted to make new friends,” she said, smiling and glancing at her new pal from Natchitoches Parish, Abigail Adams.

On the volleyball court, teams played giant volleyball, hoisting a 5-foot-in-diameter ball and pushing it over the net as a group. Under oak trees outside the conference center, another group made Hawaiian kebabs and learned to grill.

In the dining hall, Kristi Bourgeois, a Jackson Parish 4-H assistant agent, began a first aid lesson by uncovering a table of items — useful medical gear mixed in with toys, baseballs and other distractions. Then she recovered the table and asked the middle schoolers to recite which first aid items they could name.

Bourgeois taught them the basics of first aid by building on their existing knowledge of wound treatment and caring for others.

“I hope they realize that they know more than they already do,” she said, “and if they’re put in a position, like as a counselor at a summer camp, that they can help someone that gets injured.”

4-H’ers were meant to learn about first aid in the primer, but Bourgeois also stressed that help is usually available in these tense situations.

“They always are part of a team, especially in 4-H,” she said. “We build 4-H as a family, and their family is going to help them, and if they’re at a camp, or if they’re somewhere else, there’s always going to be a helper. Look for the helpers, and you’re going to be able to help someone.”

For the final activity, the campers divided into four teams for a kickball tournament, enjoying the warm February afternoon. Evangeline O’Neal from Caddo Parish watched from the sidelines with a group of new friends.

“I thought it was going to be a fun experience, and it was,” she said.