By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent FRANKFORT, Ky. — Students in Franklin County spent a portion of this year’s spring break in 4-H activities, thanks to the local University of Kentucky (UK) Cooperative Extension Service.
For the first time, 4-H/Youth Development agents held three days’ worth of workshops for elementary and middle school students in an effort to teach them something new, while beefing up the number of entries for a variety of classes at this year’s county fair.
The projects included arts and crafts featuring digital photography, woodworking and electric that included constructing a bluebird house and entomology, geology and forestry consisting of rock, leaf and bug collections.
Mike Meyer, one of the county‘s 4-H agents, said the project days gave the students a chance to meet others while, introducing them to county fair competitions.
“Hopefully this will teach the students processes and they will get a chance to see them on display at the fair,” he said. “The winners from each class will go on to the state fair.”
Meyer also said this event served as a way to introduce many of the students to 4-H. “Many of the students belong to other clubs and some do go to camp, but projects have been as big of a tradition here as in other counties, and we’d like to have some of that here. We want to provide that opportunity to them,” he said.
“This also allows the kids to see all the things available through 4-H. It’s not just camp, there are a lot of different projects and activities that they can do.”
While 4-H does have a rich agricultural history, Meyer noted as many come from urban as well as rural areas.
“It’s changing more and more all the time. It’s more of a rural and urban mix in most counties and kids have different interests these days,” he said. “The majority of students in 4-H don’t live on farms at all, so it’s important we stress the broad spectrum that 4-H is; it’s not just livestock or vegetable projects. While those are a big part of it, there is so much of a variety of other things, and this will get them ready for high school and college and life in general.”
Meyer added while the students view 4-H as doing something fun, which is important to them, it really benefits them educationally as well, preparing them for what lies ahead. Samantha Jeffries serves as the other 4-H agent in Franklin County, and echoed his take on how beneficial the project days will be to the attendees.
“It gives the kids self confidence to be involved. I was involved in 4-H as well and my agent did things like this for us, and that’s how I came to know about project days and how important they were,” she said.
The students began their day by introducing themselves and playing a brief game to break the ice. Jennifer Hubbard is a 4-H agent from Fayette County and assisted the students in their icebreaker activities and craft-making.
“It’s very important the kids feel comfortable with each other because they will be working together in groups during these project days. We teach life skills and one of those is knowing how to get along with each other,” she said.
Hubbard also said the organization’s connections to local schools is important. “A lot of times when we go into the schools, everything is tied to their core content because we know how important that is to the school system, and we want to help them out as much as possible. That relationship is still vital to our other 4-H programs,” she said.
Taylor Mauer, a fourth-grade student from Franklin County, participated in the event and said she didn’t know she could enter projects in the county fair, but now she is planning on it.
“I think I’ll learn a lot. This is the first year I’ve been in 4-H and I want to enter my bracelet, earrings and some pictures,” she said.
The items Taylor mentioned represented just a few of the projects students worked on during the course of the three-day workshop.
With more than 6.5 million young people involved, 4-H serves as one of the largest youth-oriented organizations in the world, with more than a half of a million volunteers. The group has educated youth for more than 100 years in agriculture and the sciences.
In Kentucky, Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer recently announced Agriculture Achiever Grants totaling $80,000 will go to 33 county 4-H councils and 28 school FFA chapters to help fund projects that advance agricultural education in their local communities.
“We salute the extraordinary creativity and initiative demonstrated by the scope and variety of these projects,” he said. “Past projects have ranged from greenhouse construction to computer equipment purchases, and we anticipate many successful projects in the coming year.”
Martha Welch, UK extension specialist for 4-H youth development, said, “The Kentucky commissioner of agriculture has supported the Agriculture Achiever Grant to Kentucky 4-H since 1994. We are grateful for his support. The $40,000 (annually) has funded numerous county projects which would not have been possible, otherwise.”
County 4-H councils will use the grants for projects such as teaching youth how to use global positioning system (GPS) equipment, resources to be used by volunteers to teach club members, audio equipment and tents and gate panels for local livestock shows and fairs, according to information from the Department of Agriculture.
For more information about 4-H in Kentucky, visit www.ca.uky.edu/Agcollege/4h |
