OSU Extension in Josephine County: 4-H Nurtures Future Leaders

4-H Extension provides a lot of different services, from community farming, gardening, exercise, food safety. But the part that I'm really involved in and that I love is the Youth Development Program. And what makes it valuable is that we help kids become their full selves and we teach goal setting, and leadership, and community service, you know, all the things that encourage them to be the best citizens that they can be. My oldest child was interested in raising an animal when she was nine years old, and so she joined 4-H. I had a younger child who was medically fragile and we couldn't be really involved.

The 4-H leaders made sure that she could be as involved as possible and just told me later on, when you have time, you can do your share of contribution. And the fact that they, that community, would support my child, made it so that it's easy for me to want to support other children. My favorite part of being a 4-H leader is seeing kids be proud of themselves for meeting their own goals. So not necessarily a belt buckle, or a prize, or a ribbon, but they set their mind on something they want to achieve and they achieve it. And it might be a red ribbon, it might be a comment from a judge that says, “Hey, I can tell you groomed your animal well.” But whatever it is, it's something that they set, they achieved, and they can be proud of, no matter what anybody else thinks. 4-H is a great community where kids can be themselves, whoever they are. It's not just animals. My daughter is a mechanical engineer because she did a 4-H Robotics camp. There's robots, there's science, there's art, there's home skills, there's practical things that you use in real life. And the fact that it's all done in hands-on experiential learning makes it super fun and valuable to the kids, I think.