iLEAD V Day Two: ExCEL Teambuilding

by Tyler Caston, Stone County Cooperative Extension Service – staff chair – agriculture - August 21, 2025

Thursday, August 14, 2025, was Day Two of the iLEAD V seminar at the C.A. Vines 4-H Center. After breakfast, we were to meet at 8:30 a.m. to begin our day. This would be a day of learning about one another, discovering how to work together, and overcoming challenges. But first, we started with a tour of the 4-H Center.

Our tour was led by the director of Vines 4-H Center, J.J. Pittman. As we walked, Pittman discussed the history, changes and updates that had taken place since the center first opened in the early 1980s. While walking through the hallway and looking at the artwork and displays, Pittman pointed to some green 4-H banners and mentioned that it would be the last time they would be seen, as they were being updated to something new in just a few hours. It was almost symbolic, because after a few hours, our group would also be different in how we perceived our leadership abilities.

Taylor Knox and the ExCEL crew had a full day planned for us. The first activities consisted of team-building games that required our group to work together, communicate, and accomplish tasks in a fun and engaging way. One task involved building a tower out of blocks, where only one team member was allowed to build, and the rest gave instructions based on different photos. However, each team member had their own photo and couldn’t look at the others’ photos; it turned out each photo was from a different perspective. All the morning activities taught us aspects of leadership: from listening, planning, and communicating to working together to achieve a goal or task. After lunch, we headed to the ropes course.

The ExCEL crew gave us a rundown on our gear, explained safety protocols, and trained us on how to properly navigate the ropes course. Knox made it clear it was “challenge by choice”—no one had to do more than they wanted, but everyone was encouraged to get out of their comfort zone. Several of us went up, while a few stayed below. However, it didn’t matter whether you were on the course or on the ground; teamwork was still required. A team member on the course could seek “permission” from someone on the ground to change their gate tethers to another part of the course to move on. The ropes course taught us to push ourselves individually, while maintaining an awareness of our teammates’ goals and providing encouragement when needed. To finish the day, we had a friendly competition of Pictionary and a scavenger hunt.

The focus of Day Two was teambuilding and applying leadership within a team. For instance, the block-building activity made our group aware that, although we come from all different parts of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, we all have different perspectives on what is happening and each of us has a part to play in the goal to strengthen communities, families, and agriculture. Day Two provided us with a chance to practice and apply our leadership skills within the group to achieve a common goal through fun and challenging activities.