Today's Youth
Carry Our Dreams into Tomorrow

By Cathy Spalding
www.gentlespiritllamas.com
www.gentlespiritalpacas.com

Perhaps the strongest as well as often overlooked and/or dismissed asset for the continuation and growth of any community is held within our young people… those vigorous and creative individuals possessing that awe of wonder and enthusiasm. Who are they? Do we stop to notice their amazing capabilities? Do we look to specifically encourage and support them with respect and camaraderie in and amidst our activities? How aware are we that so many might truly care to stand beside us? Through the ages we have heard the phrase: “Our youth are our future.” That old phrase holds incredible truths and has important relevance for any future in any century and in any realm – including that of the alpaca and llama communities. And, according to the latest census, they are plentiful!

Today’s youth do indeed carry the weight of the future. As we were once the future, so will they become. By creating inviting and enjoyable opportunities for strong youth participation, we put in place essential building blocks for the continued vitality of the alpaca and llama communities. The llama community, specifically, has already experienced a wide reaching generational change in both animals and in the humans that care for them. . The arenas of dreams and opportunity we create and enjoy for ourselves today will necessarily pass – or not – to our youth.

The strength of youth participation definitely depends upon how well we are able to encourage, guide and include, support and mentor them. It ultimately depends upon available resources and opportunity as well. Opportunity must be more than assisting with ranch chores or bringing them along with friends, mom and/or dad to a show or sale. And resources must include but go far beyond financial support. For long-term success, opportunity must be designed to spark interest, inspiration, desire and a curiosity deep within them to want to participate. Opportunity must include varied venues for personal growth and skill development allowing for direct participation of youth in all age groups. Opportunity must expose them to leadership initiative, new concepts and motivating role models. Opportunity must provide a genuine feeling of acknowledgement and appreciation for the many talents and achievements of each individual youth and for youth as a group. Opportunity must allow the possibility to dream of their own future.

FFA and 4-H have long provided great opportunity for youth. Unfortunately, both organizations are seemingly somewhat distant per se from any direct involvement within the alpaca or llama communities at large. What creative avenues might we offer in solid establishment of direct connection to our national and international communities? How can we support and directly involve FFA and 4-H youth? If our youth are truly a significant part of our alpaca and llama future, it follows that offering solid opportunity through our local and national organizations is a very significant ingredient for the long-term success of our future.

The Llama Association of North America (LANA) continues to set the leading edge example of how an alpaca and/or llama organization can and does support and encourage youth involvement by pioneering some extraordinary opportunities for youth. LANA youth program opportunities go far beyond simply handling and working with an alpaca or llama. These opportunities are about building character and life skills using alpacas and llamas as the common denominator. LANA has continued to offer a number of far-reaching programs to involve and recognize youth of varying ages including:

*** A vigorous and challenging LANA EXPO Youth Educational Program that coincides with adult programs offered at the annual LANA EXPO. The youth program is designed specifically for youth of varying age based learning levels. Youth registered in this program receive a comprehensive notebook with youth speaker handouts and participate in rigorous two-day events. Veterinarians and other topic experts present a variety of youth tailored lectures and hands on participation sessions.

*** Free standing Youth Clinics are offered on a variety of topics from basic herd management and health care to many aspects of training and showing.

*** LANA Youth “Follow Me” Award. Each year this award recognizes and celebrates a youth who has set an outstanding example for their peers in behavior, attitude, effort and service to others. This award winner is recognized with other Adult award recipients at the annual LANA EXPO Awards Banquet.

The 2006 “Follow Me” award was presented to Sarah Aly of Denair, California.

***LANA Youth “Sportsmanship Medallion.” LANA provides these award medallions to any organization across the country for presentation at ALSA shows in recognition of deserving youth for sportsmanship, behavior and attitude. This award is a unique, eye-catching Olympic style bronze colored medal on a neck ribbon. Youth work hard to receive this recognition and are proud to wear the medallion – even in public! The LANA Youth Medallion is awarded yearly at shows such as the HOBO Classic, Rogue River Gold, CAL-ILA Grass Valley, California State Fair, Western, Regionals and Grand Nationals. Any organization nation-wide may present these medallions to deserving youth. Please contact LANA.

*** LANA “Western Show Team Jacket” Program. Any youth can earn a Western Show Team jacket – a beautiful black Carhart jacket that is especially monogrammed with their name, a llama head, the phrase “Western Show Team” and LANA. Youth meeting the following criteria qualify for a jacket:

Must be a member of LANA.

Must be a member of another co-sponsoring organization.

Must be an ALSA member.

Must participate and show in the ALSA youth show program, including youth judging.

Must qualify and commit to attend the appropriate Regional or Grand Nationals.

Meet any other criteria deemed appropriate by the co-sponsoring organization.

*** Youth Across America Competition. Begun in 1986, the LANA Youth Across America program is most unique. This program encourages competition among youth worldwide in recognition of their outstanding contribution and participation in the alpaca or llama community in the following areas: Record Book projects, Art, Essays and Community Service. This award recognizes and strongly supports the true importance of youth within the alpaca and/or llama communities by honoring their many talents and achievements. This is a very serious award and the competition is quite stiff. The record book material must include records covering their alpaca or llama experience (project, training, shows, community service, story writing and more…) for a period of 12 months and include letters of recommendation. In addition, one youth from each age category is chosen as a medallist from the entries in the other areas of competition. The LANA judging committee spends countless hours thoroughly reviewing each and every entry in every category. All winners receive an award, prizes, are honored at the LANA EXPO banquet as well as recognized in the LANA newsletter and various other publications. The 2006 program received entries from as far away as the country of India.

Ayushi Deven Mehta, age 9, from Mumbai, India had never seen a llama but became so interested in them after seeing the contest on the Internet that she submitted the following entry in the art category.

Ayushi’s family sent an email upon hearing she had actually won the gold medal in the art division:

Dear Madam,
Kindly accept our sincere thanks for choosing the Art work.

We are very glad & excited for her, winning the Gold medal and happy that you have considered her hard work, Further kindly excuse us for the delayed reply, as we had been on hoilday's. Moreover, Just FYI, she had put lots of efforts by reading Books and viewing several pictures of LLamas before decidng on the art work. We are happy that her hard work has paid,

We cam to know about the competition thru the Net and she loves pets and animals a lot. Once again thank you very much and look forward to keep in touch with your kindself.

Thanks / Regard's
Ayushi Mehta & Family.

In addition, the overall record book winner for any specific year – the current year Youth Across America winner -- receives an all expense paid trip for themselves and a chaperone to attend the LANA EXPO. The responsibilities of this winner include opening the youth program, finalizing the details as well as providing assistance to the youth program speakers, giving at least one presentation to the youth program, speaking at the awards banquet and serving as an alpaca and/or llama youth ambassador for the coming year.

The 2006 “Youth Across America” award was presented to Lisa Gapinski of Boyne City, Michigan.

Several years ago, LANA initiated a very creative and innovation youth program dubbed CSI that is included each year at the LANA Expo. The idea was to create a program that was both physically and mentally challenging for youth. Borrowing from the popularity of the television series of the same name, the very title of this program caught the attention and curiosity of the youth and has engaged them from the very beginning. The letters in “CSI” represent many things: C can mean confidence, cooperation, communication and competition; S includes skill, smarts and ‘stick-to-it-ness’ and the I reminds all of us of the interdependence, ingenuity, improvement and the “I can do it” needed in all areas of our lives. The concept is to present youth of all ages with a physical and mental challenge course complete with activities designed to increase esteem for self and others as well as craft team building and problem solving skills. Competing teams are comprised equally of youth from all the varying age groups. Each team is required to problem solve particular situations using their knowledge, experience and individual strengths in order to put forward the best team effort possible.

The CSI course is different each year and consists of different stations requiring physical effort, cooperation, knowledge and teamwork in both head to head and timed competition. The course is purposefully set up to challenge all participants in a variety of ways. If something is not working, are they willing and able to plan another strategy? Can each group of varying ages respectfully work together for the common goal? Can they interact and coordinate movement to complete their task quickly? It is not particularly about who is best but rather about discovering what you’re best at. Every team receives all manner of great prizes that have included alpaca socks, brass llama key chains and llama or alpaca crossing signs.