Life Skills Camp offers EH students advice they can use
Kim Kellogg talks trees with a group of Hiland students, who had plenty of options from which to choose during Life Skills Camp.
Sometimes life can throw everyday tasks at people that seem so simple, yet without having ever been given any knowledge in how to deal with those seemingly easy tasks, they can become challenges.
The inaugural Holmes County Life Skills Camp for East Holmes High School took place Tuesday, Oct. 10 at Harvest Ridge in Millersburg, and Hiland juniors and seniors were invited to participate in a series of short sessions led by area professionals who helped introduce ways to deal with some of life’s many little challenges.
The sessions included a variety of professions that were designed to help students learn some basic and valuable topics that could help them navigate through their adult lives.
The list included pet care, insurance, small engines, how to change attire, taxes, grocery shopping, resumes, entrepreneurship, meal prep, CPR, social media and more, and the sessions challenged students to learn basic skills in each.
“This is so exciting for us because it’s been a long time coming,” said Janessa Hill, OSU Holmes County Extension program director. “We had initially hoped to dive into it this past summer, but people were so busy that we didn’t get the participation we felt it deserved.”
Hill said they initially had close to 40 presenters lined up for the event to take place this summer, but things got pushed back and put on hold until it fit the schedules of students and presenters.
More than 120 students signed up to participate in the event.
Hill said creating hands-on lessons and presenting topics that would interest the students were imperative to what they were striving to accomplish.
She said many of these topics are things that aren’t taught in school today, yet they are everyday topics and lessons that young adults should find invaluable.
“It was wonderful to see how excited the presenters were and how pleased they were with how invested the kids were and the quality of questions they were asking,” Hill said. “We are even more pleased with how much the kids have shown a genuine interest and seem to be soaking it all in. That is really awesome to see that type of excitement and participation.”
John Miller of Millersburg Tire Services said they were impressed with the participation of students in the tire-changing station. He said it was neat to see them eager to participate.
“I think they all got something out of this,” Miller said. “They were encouraging each other to give it a try even though they weren’t sure, and most of them had never changed a tire before.”
Mark Schlabach, Hiland High and Middle School assistant principal, said having the students get out of the classroom and into these types of scenarios that allow them to develop skills and knowledge outside the school setting are valuable because they relate to everyday life.
“We’re always looking for opportunities like this for our upperclassmen,” Schlabach said. “We have a hard time finding time for these types of real-life learning moments, so we’re grateful to the extension office, the farm bureau and the local community giving us this opportunity. When they offered this to us, we jumped on it because it’s a need for our students.”
Schlabach said having the experts of the community teaching the students goes a long way in making each topic more memorable. With a variety of topics, students could sign up for the sessions that interested them the most.
“Some of these things are just basic, everyday parts of our lives, yet many of our kids don’t get taught a lot of them,” Schlabach said.
After lunch with the sessions completed, students were invited to fill out a form detailing what they had learned and how they felt they could and would apply what they’d learned during the event. It also gave Hill and her staff a chance to personally thank the volunteer community members who participated.
“We’re so grateful to the many sponsors and businesses who took time out of their busy schedules to participate,” Hill said.
The extension office received grant funding from the Ohio 4-H Foundation and Ohio Farm Bureau, and many local businesses joined them to provide financial backing to make the program possible.
“We had so many businesspeople get behind and tell us that they really liked the concept of this idea,” Hill said.
The event was sponsored by Tate Farms, Yoder Lumber, Action Coupling Equipment, Sun Valley Auto Repair, ProVia, East Holmes Veterinary Clinic, Hi Hills Farm, the Ohio State University, Ohio Farm Bureau, Harold’s Equipment, Ogi Trucking and Excavating, Ivan Weaver Construction Inc., Sweet Breeze Farms, Millersburg Dental, Habrun’s Insurance, Harvest Thrift Store, Matt and Mindi Campbell, and Norma Getchey.
The West Holmes High School Life Skills Camp is slated to take place Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 15-16, and this time it will take place at West Holmes High School and will include every high school class, which means close to 550 youth will participate during the FFA’s “All in Week.”
Hill said if there are any businesses that would like to participate, they can still sign up by calling her at the extension office.