I was invited to teach a survival skills class at the West Central District 4-H Volunteer Leader’s Fall Day that represents 17 clubs from 10 counties. The 4-H Clubs promote the “intellectual, social, emotional and physical development of school-age youth”, and does a great job of preparing the next generation to be mature, reliable and self reliant citizens. The focus of my class was “learning survival basics for yourself and imparting that knowledfe and skill to others”.

Because of the age spread of 4-H members, I discussed two approaches: the “Hug-A-Tree and Survive” program which is a children’s Search and Rescue (SAR) prevention program aimed at children from kindergarten to Grade 6; and conventional survival skills best suited for more mature youth. Each parent or Volunteer must determine for themselves the maturity level of each child and decide which survival strategy to pursue.

I began with the basic points of the “Hug-A-Tree and Survive” program and then progressed to the “Rule of 3s” and “survival priorities”. I gave activity suggestions for each of the “survival priorities” categories that make for wonderful “hands-on” learning experiences. Each leader had the opportunity to sign up for my Newsletter and walk away with a description of the classes that I offer.

It was a great day spent with some wonderful volunteer leaders.