A rural teen’s total health plan shines on the national stage

June 23, 2021June 23, 2021

Maggie Thomas attended the National 4-H Summit for the second year in a row, but her first experience was less than ideal. After he became seriously ill, he was hospitalized for a week and spent his 16th birthday there.

But undeterred after the trip to Washington, D.C., the Lowcountry teenager saw this year’s summit as an opportunity to help other South Carolina youth.

“It made me realize how important it is to maintain good overall health at all times and to put health first,” she said.

The result was a concept called “The Whole Body The Whole Time,” and her work was a national finalist in the National 4-H Healthy Living Summit “Dolphin Tank.” This is an opportunity for youth to work with their leaders to develop an action plan that focuses on: Address health needs within the community and state and market the plan to colleagues, industry leaders, and 4-H professionals.

Dolphin Tank may not have as creepy a nickname as the ABC show Shark Tank, but the concept of pitching ideas to a panel of experts remains, and Thomas shined in this year’s competition.

Thomas, from Dorchester County, was selected as one of 20 finalists for the Dolphin Tank Action Plan and received a $1,000 mini-grant to help establish and implement the plan.

“We wanted to develop a project that would be accessible to all ages and teach the importance of maintaining overall health at all times,” Thomas said. “I created The Whole Body The Whole Time to touch on all aspects of a healthy lifestyle, including physical activity, nutrition, mental health, and the importance of hydration. We hope to improve the lives of young people.”

Thomas’ adult mentor for the dolphin tank project is South Carolina 4-H Healthy Lifestyles Coordinator Miriam Roman, who works with the Sumter County Cooperative Extension Office’s 4-H Youth Development Program team .

Roman said Thomas was a true leader in every way.

“Her dedication, commitment and determination to help others has positively impacted their quality of life,” Roman said. “Maggie’s contributions to 4-H and Healthy Lifestyles programs provide learning opportunities for others on a variety of topics and help instill program goals, purpose, and confidence in youth. Ta.”

Roman said Thomas strives to be the best and doesn’t see failure as an option.

“Maggie is a great role model and ambassador for youth leadership at the local, state and national level,” she said.

Thomas said Roman traveled with her to Washington, D.C., during her first year and not only guided her through workshops, but also provided great moral support during some difficult times. It is said that

“She was on the plane with me. It was my first time on a plane, so she held my hand on the way. I was so scared. She supported me throughout the whole thing. It’s like a system, when I got sick, they took me to the doctor’s office and made sure I was as healthy as I could be at that point,” Thomas said. .

Teams participating in the Dolphin Tank must create a presentation of 5 slides or less that focuses on how 4-H programs address community- or state-level needs related to healthy living and submit a presentation for the competition’s first round. In step 1, you shared your presentation with your peers. March.

From there, Thomas returned in April as one of the semifinalists and presented a three-minute video that continued to demonstrate how the group was addressing their needs. Her plan was then selected as her one of 20 action plans across the country to receive a mini-grant to implement the plan.

Contestants describe the problem or situation they will address and how it affects their community, set goals, explain how their plan will address the situation, and where their plan will be implemented. asked to specify.

Other criteria for the project include setting a timeline for the plan’s goals from start to finish, assigning roles to take action, discussing tools, resources, and community partners that can help make change, and This includes the challenges involved and how to overcome them. Finally, how do you evaluate the impact of your plan?

“Essentially, young people who participate will learn five new healthy recipes, five new physical activities, and five new mental health exercises to keep their whole body healthy at all times,” Thomas said. Ta.

And just like the initiative she showed in developing the dolphin tank action plan, Thomas and her family took a similar approach in getting involved in 4-H from the beginning.

Thomas, now in his 10th year as a 4-H worker, lives in the rural community of St. George Town, where there weren’t many opportunities for young people. So her mother, aunt, cousin the same age, and her sister decided to start a 4-H club.

“They just dove in headfirst and it just worked out as the year went on,” she said. “Now we’re into it and it’s a big part of my life. I really love it.”