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In my previous post about sheep and 4-H, I did not explain what 4-H actually is. It was the water I swam in as a kid so I never really thought to explain it, and I still have trouble describing what it actually *is* sometimes! It's a youth leadership and development organization. In Minnesota, it's run by the University of MN extension. 4-H has roots in agricultural education (and the org. is part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture), but since family farms are kinda on their way out, it's expanded to other kinds of education like job preparation, travel opportunities, etc.
We had monthly club meetings. Families attend club meetings, there are adult leaders and the older kids get to be club officers. Clubs do things like community service and fun activities. People can also be 4-H members without actually being in a club, though, if they are the renegade sort.
We had a few activities through the year like raking leaves for some older folks, staining a recycling shed, etc, but the main thing was the county fair in the summer and getting ready for it. In my family we raised and showed sheep and chickens, and later got into horses. We also exhibited our art projects from school and did many other projects (things like photography, sewing, doing a demonstration, making a display on a disease, etc). Any sort of research project you wanted to do, you could do in 4-H, and show it at the fair. There would be an interview with a judge and you'd get a ribbon. If we did well enough, we could go to the State fair, where we stayed in a huge dorm built by the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s, and little changed since then. And we'd get quite a bit of independence, roaming around the state fair grounds, eating junk food and having a blast.
As I got older there were other opportunities for me; I got to go to Washington D.C. on a trip, and later to Costa Rica, where they have a similar program called 4-S. I did a creative writing competition at the regional and state levels. I learned how to make a resume, give talks, and I did many interviews, which was a huge help as I went to college and grad school. For a few years after I graduated out of the program, I stayed on and ran the poultry show as superintendent. This means that I organized the show, announced things on the microphone, answered questions for the kids and the public, etc. It was fun and I miss it.
We had monthly club meetings. Families attend club meetings, there are adult leaders and the older kids get to be club officers. Clubs do things like community service and fun activities. People can also be 4-H members without actually being in a club, though, if they are the renegade sort.
We had a few activities through the year like raking leaves for some older folks, staining a recycling shed, etc, but the main thing was the county fair in the summer and getting ready for it. In my family we raised and showed sheep and chickens, and later got into horses. We also exhibited our art projects from school and did many other projects (things like photography, sewing, doing a demonstration, making a display on a disease, etc). Any sort of research project you wanted to do, you could do in 4-H, and show it at the fair. There would be an interview with a judge and you'd get a ribbon. If we did well enough, we could go to the State fair, where we stayed in a huge dorm built by the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s, and little changed since then. And we'd get quite a bit of independence, roaming around the state fair grounds, eating junk food and having a blast.
As I got older there were other opportunities for me; I got to go to Washington D.C. on a trip, and later to Costa Rica, where they have a similar program called 4-S. I did a creative writing competition at the regional and state levels. I learned how to make a resume, give talks, and I did many interviews, which was a huge help as I went to college and grad school. For a few years after I graduated out of the program, I stayed on and ran the poultry show as superintendent. This means that I organized the show, announced things on the microphone, answered questions for the kids and the public, etc. It was fun and I miss it.
