TeenAg members at leadership training camp

Tayla McGuigan, (left) Kayla Calder, Adrian Zwagerman and Joshua Bennett visit the High Country salmon farm. Photo / Supplied

Young TeenAg Club members from Otago and Southland got the chance to climb a wall and observe a salmon dissection as part of a leadership training camp last week.

Organised by New Zealand Young Farmers and funded by DairyNZ, the first Raising the Standards camp was held in Twizel from April 16 to 18.

Palmerston North hosted another camp this week and another will be held in Auckland in July.

Convener Mary Holmes said 18 young people from around the South Island were selected to attend the Twizel camp, including four from Southland and six from Otago.

There are 18 TeenAg clubs in the region.

Ms Holmes said pupils 15 to 17 years old were nominated to attend the camps and those taking part were encouraged to become leaders in their schools and communities and eventually excel in the primary industries.

"They will benefit from attending the course and will look at setting goals, communication, listening skills, time management, speaking out, dealing with conflict, team building, meetings, and writing a CV,'' she said.

"The camps have been run for the last four years and there have been about 50 young people through the three camps a year.

"We have industry speakers come in.

"We try to choose quite young speakers from a range of different careers, who are relatable to the kids.

"We will also be taking them to visit a salmon farm, where they will give us a tour and we can watch someone dissecting a salmon.

"We will also go to a climbing wall, for team building.''

Those who take part in the Raising the Standards programme had previously completed on line modules for a Leadership Pathway programme.