When thinking about different extracurriculars, our minds usually go to sports, band, choir, and many more. One extracurricular that is common among some people is 4-H. According to the official 4-H page, 4-H is defined as, “ … the power of young people. We see that every child has valuable strengths and real influence to improve the world around us.” When 4-H was originally started in the late 1800’s, it was made as a way to introduce new agricultural technology to communities. The goal was to have the idea of a practical and “hands - on” learning experience for all 4-Hers. The idea of having a practical and “hands - on” learning came from wanting to connect school education and country life together. The first step to making 4-H was by building community clubs to help solve agricultural challenges by learning about the industries in their community.
In 1902, A.B. Gram started the first 4-H club was known by “The Tomato Club” and by the “Corn Growing Club” in Clark County, Ohio. That same year T.A. Erickson of Douglas County, Minnesota also started local after school agricultural clubs and fairs. About eight years later in 1910, Jessie Field Shambaugh from Page County, Iowa developed the clover pin with the three H’s. The three H’s stood for Head, Hands, and Heart.
Two years later in 1914, the Smith-Lever Act was passed and created the Cooperative Extension System at USDA. (The Cooperative Extension System is a partnership of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), more than 100 land-grant universities and more than 3,000 county offices across the nation. Cooperative Extension combines the expertise and resources of federal, state, and local governments and is designed to meet the need for research, knowledge and educational programs.) This also nationalized 4-H as 4-H and not 3-H. The fourth H was added and stood for Health. By 1924, the clover was adapted and 4-H clubs were formed.
Today, 4-H serves youth is rural, urban, and suburban communities and 4-Hers and tackling many national issues from global food security, climate change, and many more topics. 4-H today is also in communities in every state across the nation and gives the youth a wide variety of STEM opportunities from agricultural to robotics and much more. In 4-H, their is nearly 6 million people who participate in 4-H. Roughly, 1.8 of these people live in an urban area, 1.6 million live in a suburban area, and 2.8 million people live in a rural area. There is also about 500,000 volunteers and 3,500 4-H professionals helping all 6 million 4-Hers.
I personally am a part of the BUtler BB’s 4-H Club in Butler County and believe that 4-H is one network that can help youth learn some of the basic fundamentals for school, future jobs, and for the rest of their lives. There are many different and new opportunities when it comes to 4-H as well. Listed below is a source for 4-H and how you can get involved if you are interested. If you are looking for new experiences, more about how things around you work, or even just a way to meet new people, I highly recommend looking into 4-H.
Link to find a 4-H club near you : https://4-h.org/find/
Sources :
“History of 4-H Youth Development Organization.” 4, https://4-h.org/about/history/.
“What Is 4-H? - 4-H.” 4, https://4-h.org/about/what-is-4-h/.
YouTube, 2 June 2011, https://youtu.be/eaRiYB_AxGA.
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