During Social Services Day, our second day out, in the Youth Leadership Highlands of the Mason G. Smoak Foundation I learned some very valuable lessons. As I traveled through the county I realized that there was a much greater need than I thought. I loved helping the homeless and becoming more aware of our eating habits. I was joyful to see how God was working through our community to help those in need. While driving back to go home, I reflected on our day and decided one thing; that I could not just go home and go back to my normal daily tasks. I love and live to help and serve people and the Social Services Day really gave me ideas on how I could do that. I pursued that day, and am contin

On Social Services Day I learned that there are so many people that need our help in our community. Some of them need people to talk to, some need financial help, some need food, some need a place to stay, and some just need someone to be there for them. The amount of homeless people in Highlands County is shocking. There are so many people living off of nothing, when others have so much. We can pay more attention to the needs around us and instead of throwing our things away we could donate them to those organizations in the community who will distribute them to those who are in need. I have always cared about the social needs of the community and love finding new ways to help my county. I

For Social Services Day we went to Nu Hope Elder Care, Samaritan’s Touch, New Testament Mission, Hope Haven Transitional Housing and New Concepts ADT. At Nu Hope we learned how it is for older people who have vision problems, for example, yellowing of the eye or cataracts. Samaritan’s Touch made me realize that many people don’t have health insurance and they help people who need it receive medical care. New Testament helps the less fortunate by feeding then lunch and dinner while giving many a place to live. At Hope Haven, we were shown how Ms. Leslie runs the place. Also how she helps other by giving those who need it a place to live and help them find jobs. When we went to New Concepts we

Social Services day was filled with a bunch of hidden treasures that I have drove past many times. I never once realized what any of the places we visited on this day actually were. Our first stop was New Concepts, which was such a unique experience. Everyone there was extremely nice and everyone had a good time making Christmas crafts and getting to know each other. After New Concepts we went to Hope Haven Transitional Housing. The director of Hope Haven pours her entire life into her organization. She helps out people that are homeless, but she does not only provide them with a place to stay. She helps them find jobs, makes sure that they have food to eat, and help them get their own place

On Wednesday, February 20th, our YLH class went on our Ag Day Out. To start the day off, we visited Happiness Farms in Lake Placid. We got to learn about the process of caladium harvesting and selling, as well as see some of the behind the scenes. Then, we went to Lake Istokpoga water structure where we discussed the wildlife in and around the area. Lastly, we traveled to the Smoak Ranch in Venus where we participated in various team building activities, and rode around the area. All in all, I would say I learned a lot about the agriculture business in our county, and how it's connected to the whole world.

Today was our AG Day. Our first stop was at Happiness Farms owned by the Phypers. We learned about the process that Caladium bulbs go through from the time they are harvested to the time they are sold to customers. Our next stop was at the lock off 621 where we talked to Mr. Mike about tagging Osprey and he told us about his job and how he keeps record of the Osprey and where they travel. Our last stop was at our family ranch in Venus. We talked with my Uncle John about what we were doing on the ranch. He explained why we do what we do to conserve the land. He discussed the importance of control burning, fertilizing the pastures, and cattle grazing. He also talked about what we do to keep th

Our Agriculture and Conservation day was very interesting and educational. At the beginning of our day we walked around the town of Lake Placid and were introduced to the many different murals and how they are an important source of income to our county. Next we visited Happiness Farms and learned about the different stages of growth and variations of the caladium plant which our county is known for worldwide. I found this stop very interesting because I learned that our county ships caladiums to many different places out of the country. We then spent some time learning about the conservation of Ospreys in our county. We ended the day at the Smoak Ranch where we heard about the Florida beef