4-H’ers attend National Congress

By NATE HUBBARD/Staff

Many Bland County students spent their Thanksgiving breaks stalking deer.
Ryan Bradberry and Miranda Cox spent it stalking Hawaiians.
Bradberry and Cox, seniors at Rocky Gap High School, attended National 4-H Congress in Atlanta from Nov. 27 - Dec. 1 along with more than a thousand other standout scholars from around the nation – including some notable islanders.
On the first night of the gathering, students got to know one another by doing a pin exchange.
To encourage mingling, Bradberry and Cox said the participants had to continuously move around the expansive Hyatt Regency ballroom while music played. When the tunes stopped, the people standing near you became your pin-trading partners.
The two Rocky Gap students sashayed along as they were supposed to, but they weren’t too concerned about rhythm. Instead, each of their steps had but a single purpose: staying close to the delegates from Puerto Rico and Hawaii.
Bradberry said a conga line of sorts formed behind the islanders as the mainlanders tried to keep close to the prized pins.
“Their pins go faster because everybody wants a Hawaii or Puerto Rico pin,” Cox explained. “So we started stalking them.”
The Rocky Gap pin hunters were successful in their pursuit, an early portent of a trip chock-full of memorable experiences.
Just getting to go to Atlanta was an achievement in it of itself for Bradberry and Cox.
“This is a national, premier event,” said Elizabeth Johnson, Bland County’s 4-H extension agent.
In order to go on the all-expenses-paid trip to the national gathering, Virginia 4-H’ers must submit a detailed application and résumé describing their experience in 4-H, scholastic record and other extracurricular activities.
After an initial cut, the remaining students are then required to prepare a presentation and answer questions before a panel of state office interviewers.
“There’s several steps,” Johnson said. “They have to be very well-rounded and be very active in 4-H.”
Bradberry and Cox gave their presentations at Virginia Tech in June and found out about a week later that they had been selected as two of Virginia’s 13 delegates to the National Congress.
Both of the Rocky Gap students have participated in 4-H since fourth grade and in high school have held leadership roles on the Virginia Southwest District Teen Council.
Bradberry has already been named a 4-H All-Star, the highest honor a 4-H participant can achieve. Cox has submitted her application for the All-Star designation and Johnson said it has been approved at the county level and is awaiting approval by district and state judges.
Bradberry also served as the Virginia flag-bearer during the opening ceremonies in Atlanta.
“Ryan and Miranda both have been real dedicated and responsible 4-H members,” Johnson said.
Johnson attended the 2007 National Congress as a chaperone along with three Bland County students and one Bland County student also got to attend the 2008 event.
After experiencing National Congress firsthand, Johnson said she’s told Bland County 4-H’ers that the arduous process to be selected for the gathering is worth the effort.
She’ll get no argument from Bradberry and Cox.
Bradberry said National Congress was similar to State Congress in setup, but with much more going on.
Cox said the state event couldn’t compare to their experience in Atlanta.
“I thought it was worlds better,” Cox said. It was just amazing. … Where it was on such a much broader scale, that’s what made it great.”
In addition to getting to meet 4-H’ers from around the nation, Bradberry and Cox heard numerous motivational speakers, took part in leadership workshops, did community service projects, toured the city and even learned to salsa during their five days in Atlanta.
“I took three different dance classes,” Bradberry said.
Both of the Rocky Gap students said hearing the guest speakers – from Miss America 2009 Katie Stam to a man who juggled and did handstands on the podium as he spoke – was a highlight of National Congress.
“They all kind of came from a different point of view,” Cox said.
For their community service project, Bradberry and Cox helped out at Bethany’s Equine and Aquatic Therapy, or BEATS, a program that provides activities for disabled children.
Cox painted horse jumps, while Bradberry helped clear rocks from the fields.
“This year’s theme was: ‘Accept the Challenge,’” Cox said. “I think it was really to inspire you to sort of live outside your area of comfort, to give back to the community. They talked about how we should do a lot of community service, not only have your personal goals, but have goals to kind of change the world.”
While part of their trip was spent hard at work, the delegates to National Congress also received plenty of pampering – especially when it came to meal time.
“I was in it for the food – no just kidding, don’t put that in there,” Cox said with a laugh.
The national gathering featured an international dinner and dance, as well as a final night banquet and gala where Miss America spoke.
On the international food night, Bradberry and Cox said tables were set up around the ballroom with foods from around the world amid displays representing various world cultures and landmarks.
“It’s a real cultural event,” Johnson said.
Cox said she enjoyed trying shepherd’s pie for the first time and both Rocky Gap students agreed that the desserts alone were in fact worth all the hard work they had to do to be selected to go on the trip.
Cox will have an associate degree from Wytheville Community College in hand along with her high school diploma when she graduates from Rocky Gap next spring. She said she plans to study science at Virginia Commonwealth University or the University of Virginia and may go into the medical field for a career.
Bradberry also has college plans, either to first attend WCC and then transfer to Liberty University or King College to study business with a minor in cultural studies or attend one of the four-year schools right away in 2010.
Both of the 4-H’ers said their experiences with the club have been invaluable in helping them develop confidence in their abilities.
“I think it’s actually opened me up as a person because I would never have talked to all those people,” Bradberry said, referring to his willingness to meet new people at National Congress.
“I’ve already had five [new friends] added to my Facebook list.”
As a high school senior, Cox said public speaking is already old hat.
“They teach you how to make speeches, presentations,” she said. “So now it doesn’t bother me at all.”
Nate Hubbard can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).