Making the best better

Camping Magazine, July-August, 2003 by Jessica Orndorff

Not too many job descriptions include expectations like, "Be able to rise early, go to bed late, and remain enthusiastic all day long." "Work well with many different types of people." "Share your love of 4-H with youth around the state." But this is exactly what the Volunteer Camping Assistants (VCA) of the West Virginia University (WVU) Extension Program do every summer.

The VCA program is run through the 4-H and Youth, Family, and Adult Development department of the Extension Service. Since 1921, the program has had a variety of names, still maintaining many of the same values and strengths of its beginning. The State Extension Program hires Volunteer Camping Assistants to work in county 4-H camps across West Virginia. Upon selection, VCAs attend a weeklong training session to prepare for overnight camps -- an important aspect of the West Virginia program. Campers range from ages eight to twenty-one and come from different backgrounds to spend a week learning more about 4-H, meeting other youth, and having fun.

What these campers often don't realize is that through the hard work of Extension staff and the VCAs, they'll probably take home a few lessons about respect, friendship, and loyalty along with their bug bites and crafts. "It's really hard work. Last summer, I came home one weekend with a sore throat, sunburn, another nametag, and some wonderful memories-collapsed on my bed, woke up in time to do my laundry, say hello to my family, and drive four hours to my next camp." For Joey Wright, this is a typical summer. He has worked as a VCA for the past three summers.

Now and Then

4-H is an international program provided through land-grant universities. Its focus is self-development -- through the head, heart, hands, and health. 4-Hers learn the importance of good decision-making, ethics, service to others, and physical fitness throughout the year in club work, but for many campers, the peak of the entire 4-H program is camp.

That is why it is so important for West Virginia University to provide good leaders for these camps. Dr. Patricia Mulkeen, director of the VCA program and an Extension Specialist in 4-H, says she likes "the opportunity we have to send some of our very best shining stars in 4-H throughout the state -- so many kids get to meet them and learn through them." She explains how the VCAs inspire the adult leaders in each county as well. "We usually think about the impact the VCAs have on youth, but frankly I think their attitude, commitment, and energy affect the adult volunteers, as well."

This commitment to excellence in service is the foundation of the program. In 1921, leaders of the West Virginia 4-H program met at Jackson's Mill State Camp to develop the kind of programming that still exists. They took this model into their individual counties, and the camping program developed. By 1935, each of the fifty-five counties in West Virginia had a camp.

County and state volunteers greeted youth when they walked (yes, walked) into camp. The VCAs, known then by other names, helped expand each county camp. Large numbers of these workers traveled -- working all summer to bring supplies and enthusiasm to even the most remote of camps.

These VCAs were like Joey and his coworkers -- they're in college, have been in 4-H for at least ten years, and have too much fun VCAing each year to give it up. "I wanted to become a VCA because, as I was growing up in the 4-H program, I benefited a lot from what the program gave me. When I became eligible to become a YCA, I wanted to start giving back to the program that had given so much to me," says VCA Shay McNeil.

A genuine desire to help others is motivation for many VCAs. Brock Armstrong, a third year VCA, wanted to teach his campers the importance of service this past summer. He showed the young campers in a way they would understand. During a dark campfire, Brock asked one of the youngest, smallest campers to come forward. Raising his hand high above his six-foot frame, Brock challenged the camper to jump and give him a high five. The young boy would have probably kept trying past lights out, despite his growing frustration, if Brock didn't finally stop him. When he did call it quits, Brock told him to try again, but this time he got to ask for help from anyone he wanted in camp. With the assistance of an older camper, the little guy easily did it. The moral of Brock's story -- 4-H is a place where you can always find someone to help you out, or be able to help someone else, without any embarrassment.

This exposure to new ideas is important for the youth. Jeff Bailey, a former VCA, calls it "bringing people with different ideas together." He loved the chance he got to "share with the kids things they had never seen, thoughts they had never imagined."

These opportunities to share come from the diverse interests of the VCAs. Their reasons to volunteer are just as varied. Ashley Skavenski, an education major at West Virginia Wesleyan College, loves working with children. She says that not only is she gaining experience each summer, but the kids "rock it!" Jennifer Sebert, a sports medicine student at High Point University in North Carolina, became a VCA to continue working in 4-H and because her parents served as VCAs when they were in college. Mark Miller, interested in landscape architecture and studying at WVU, was just looking for a fun way to spend the summers.