STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann
UNL Extension Educator

     My parents tried to make sure that regardless of the disadvantages that came with a large family (10 kids) living on a dry-land farm, that we would experience wholesome and useful ventures like Church camps and youth activities, music, and it was a given that we would all be active in the 4-H program. My parents believed in the program and what it provided for their children and all young people. I, and most of my siblings, was a proud member of the Franklin County “Happy Farmers 4-H Club”. We all had projects from livestock to cooking and sewing. Some of my best memories include working with my 4-H “baby beef” project or my grain competition. I loved going to our 4-H meetings and especially the 4-H project tour.  It was fun teasing my sisters about their cooking and sewing and especially when my brother and I would convince them that they better not take that loaf of bread or muffins or no-bake cookies to the fair – they could do much better than that. Sometimes they would take us serious and try it again and we got to taste the rejects. Mission accomplished.
     Why do I bring this up?  There is of course a reason, and it is a good one. This week more than 6 million young people across the country, representing 109 land grant universities and their Cooperative Extension System through their 3,100 local Extension offices across the country, will be celebrating National 4-H Week, which takes place annually during the first full week of October. National 4-H Week is used annually to celebrate the great things that the 4-H youth development program offers young people and highlights the incredible 4-H young people who each day work to a make a positive impact on their community.  The mission statement of the 4-H sums it up nicely: “4-H empowers youth to reach their full potential, working and learning in partnership with caring adults.” That is exactly what we find in counties like mine. 
     Since 4-H began more than 110 years ago, it has become the nation’s largest youth organization. The 4-H idea is simple: help young people and their families gain the skills needed to be proactive forces in their communities’ and develop ideas for a more innovative economy.  4-H historically opened the door for young people to learn leadership skills and revolutionized how youth connected to practical, hands-on learning experiences outside the classroom. In the late 1800's, researchers discovered adults in the farming community did not readily accept new agricultural developments on university campuses, but found that young people were open to new thinking and would experiment with new ideas and share their experiences with adults. In this way, rural youth programs introduced new agriculture technology to communities. 
     The idea of practical and "hands-on" learning came from the desire to connect public school education to country life. Building community clubs to help solve agricultural challenges was a first step toward youth learning more about the industries in their community. Early programs tied both public and private resources together for the purpose of helping rural youth.  A. B. Graham, a school principal in Ohio, began to promote vocational agriculture in rural schools in out-of-school "clubs." He started one such youth program in Clark County, Ohio in January, 1902; and, O. J. Kern started a similar club one month later, in February, 1902, in Winnebago County, Illinois. Many of these early clubs - which were project oriented - were called "Tomato Clubs" or "Corn Clubs" or "Pig Clubs" or “Baby Beef Clubs” and "Canning Clubs". 
     These clubs are considered into the birth of 4-H in the United States.  Jessie Field Shambaugh developed the clover pin with an H on each leaf in 1910, and by 1912 they were officially called 4-H clubs. The passage of the Smith-Lever Act in 1914 created the Cooperative Extension System at USDA and nationalized 4-H. Believe it or not 4-H was actually developed long before Cooperative Extension was founded. Webster County was home to one of the earliest 4-H agricultural youth clubs in Nebraska. In fact the county’s first “Baby Beef Club” was organized in Bladen in 1919, one of the very first clubs in the state. The club now named “4-B 4-H” is still in existence and yes – still showing beef. 
     Today, 4-H serves youth in rural, urban, and suburban communities in every state across the nation. 4-H'ers are tackling the nation’s top issues, from global food security, climate change and sustainable energy to childhood obesity and food safety. 4-H out-of-school programming, in-school enrichment programs, clubs and camps also offer a wide variety of STEM opportunities – from agricultural and animal sciences to rocketry, robotics, environmental protection and computer science – to improve the nation’s ability to compete in key scientific fields and take on the leading challenges of the 21st century.  I, as a 4-Her in the 50’s an 60’s, didn’t have all of those projects to choose from, but I can tell you that it had a significant positive impact on me as I am sure it did on other young people just like me.  In fact studies back that up.
     Recent findings indicate that, when compared to their peers, young people in 4-H are: 1) Nearly 4 times more likely to contribute to their communities; 2) Two times more likely to pursue healthy behaviors like, and 3) Two times more likely to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs in the out-of-school time. While those virtues are important, I believe that something else is even more so. Hundreds of thousands of young people have over the years learned the four H’s. Head, Heart, Hands, and Health and how they are the four values members work on through fun and engaging programs. They pledged their head to clearer thinking, their heart to greater loyalty, their hands to larger service, and their health to better living, for their club, their community, their country, and their world. We recited that slogan before each meeting. I still believe in those very things and still subscribe to the 4-H motto of “Making the Best Better”!  



The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home