Livestock, foods, sewing, scrapbooking, and cake decorating are all fairly popular and well-known 4-H projects. But did you know that 4-H has some pretty unique projects?  I decided to look over our family guide book of 4-H projects and choose a few of my unique favorites.

4-H members can have an opportunity to explore their roots with the genealogy project, “Family History Treasure Hunt”.   Through the project they explore not only people but interesting events, and special stories from generations previous to them.  This project teaches members how to explore history, and guides them in a way that they can learn about their own heritage.

The theater arts have rose to great popularity in recent years. Many youth enjoy acting, and building stages for local theater productions.  Through 4-H, members are given the opportunity to choose from three books that focus on the theater arts.  Play the Role focuses on acting skills such as voice, speech, movement, and characterization. Puppeteering is another one of the books, and it takes a look at the origins of puppets, types of puppets, and how to make them. Finally, what would acting be without an awesome background? “Set the Stage” teaches 4-H members how to do sets, props, sound, makeup, and stage management. Sounds like all the parts of a good production to me!

Selecting the appropriate furnishings for a room can be hard. Through the home living projects members can explore simple home furnishings, learn the basics about design such as color, flooring, walls, windows, and lighting, or taking those first steps away from your parent’s home in the project, “Your First Home Away from Home”. These projects aim to help members learn not only the principles, but the management of those projects such as a remodel, or living in an apartment.

Public Issues such as hunger, community service, and positive change in communities are just a few of the many things that older members can focus on in the leadership book series. These books are newly revised and/or developed to look at the needs of our communities especially here in Ohio. The books help 4-H members build solutions to problems in their communities and guide them with the proper steps and motivation to do a great job. These projects are just a part of what a member can do, as they open up to projects were they can determine the project for their community.

As you can tell there are many unique 4-H projects that members can choose from. Other unique projects that I didn’t write about include childcare, veterinary sciences, small animals, and costume creation! For more information you can visit Ohio 4-H Project Central at http://ohio4h.org/projectcentral or our local Extension office page at http://vanwert.osu.edu.

The many hours dedicated to the completion of a 4-H project all come down to one day of judging. One day, 15 minutes and then the waiting game begins. As I finished up judging at Van Wert  school last Thursday I had to laugh a little at the amount of text messages, phone calls and Facebook messages I received about posting the State Fair delegates as soon as possible. The level of excitement and anticipation that members have about “how they have done” is high and continues to build the longer I wait to post results.

Being selected to represent our county 4-H program for state fair isn’t just any honor. It  means that your project shows 110% effort along with an attitude of wanting to share what you have learned with someone else. These projects are the cream of the crop and often the decision of who to send is so hard that judges debate for long periods of time on who to delegate. Once selected the judging process starts all over again. The time, effort, and love put into the projects that are travelling down to the Ohio State Fair is that of which many will tell you fills their hearts with joy. The feeling of a job well done, and a trip to the State Fair is the big hooray to the end of judging, at least until 4-H awards night at the fair.

I cannot express just how proud I am of the many youth representing Van Wert County 4-H in livestock and still projects at the Ohio State Fair in the coming weeks. I wish them the best of luck, and cannot wait to show off their accomplishments right here!

It is the flurry of activity known as project judging week here at the Extension Office. We have been gathering rubrics, checking assignments, and dusting off the ribbons for this year’s still project judging. Youth have enrolled in over 500 projects such as sewing, cooking, robots, scrapbooking, and bottle rockets. These projects are all competing for awards at the county level where the best of the best will represent Van Wert County at the Ohio State Fair! Youth who participate in 4-H judging are given a taste of real world experience that is second to none. It helps them learn to communicate their experiences, thoughts, and learning with another person. While the ribbons fade, and the county fair will come to a close in September, those experiences will remain with the youth. Project judging is a good way to allow youth to experience job interviews before the time comes, and allows them to gain a level of comfort in the type of response and conversation they might have during that kind of an interview. They get to show off their talents with their project, and explain their new found passion and knowledge to caring adults who want to hear about their adventure.

You are encouraged to dress up for the occasion and bring their best attitude to judging. They introduce themselves to the judge, and are given the opportunity to explain their project as an introduction, or dive right into skills type questions. Throughout their time with the judge, they will answer, explain, or even begin conversations that otherwise may not occur with adults outside of their family and close friends. 4-H brings trusted adults with expertise to youth with passions or interests in those areas.

Throughout the years I have been blessed to experience many judging events as a member, judge, and now as a 4-H professional. I have to admit, I miss the interactions with the 4-H members as they tell me fun stories, silly things that happened – or best yet, the brutal honesty that they learned as a result of the project. I am ready and excited to see the projects as they come in the door for judging, and hear the stories about how they came to be completed. From start to finish, a 4-H project is a family affair, and a learning experience for all of those involved. So, what is project judging all about? If I had my way, I would probably reword it to a fancy show and tell of sorts. Youth show and tell about their projects – and as a result we get to award them for their hard work and efforts. 

This week marks the end of my three week series on 5 things that I feel 4-H nurtures. I truly feel that 4-H gives youth an edge in their adult lives, and the experiences they gain and unique compared to many other youth organizations (not better, not worse, unique). As a self-proclaimed 4-H nerd I can also tell you that there is a science-based exploratory side to my nature. I love to explore why things happen. 4-H gives youth the chance to gather information (qualitative, or quantitative)  about a certain topic, and then make a suggestion or hypothesis based upon that information.

At the beginning of a project youth are given information to build a base, and then work to learn more about a topic through hands on learning experiences or modules in their workbook. They answer the questions, record their findings, and build their data as they progress through their book. Once the book is completed youth have the information they are given, plus the information they investigated, and experienced to base their knowledge on. Instead of just being told that something is, they get to explore why it is, and make that happen.

While not all the projects are deeply scientific experiments or thesis – I do strongly believe that they go hand in hand with today’s flipped classrooms, and help youth to build their own self-regulatory systems to motivate themselves to constantly improve.  4-H projects do not simply complete themselves, and youth who do not experience the learning cannot successfully complete an interview with a judge. Youth must be willing to gather information, and work through the problems put in front of them in a book.

Much can also be said for the informal data collection and problem solving that can go on in a meeting or board setting also. Youth on the Jr. Fair Board must be willing to collect data (information and/or opinions) and then base them with what they know to solve a problem, or make a decision. While adults are there to guide their experiences, the idea is that youth become able to confidently make their own decisions.

4-H is more than hogs, rockets, camp, and line dancing (those are a few of my favorite things)!  There is so much someone can learn about specific topics, and the ability to then take those experiences into the workplace as an adult can make 4-H an experience that gives back for a lifetime.

Last week I introduced the idea of what I believe 4-H truly nurtures in terms of youth development. I spoke of the work ethic that I have seen youth exhibit in livestock projects, as camp counselors, and with their adult lives through college and careers. This week I am turning my focus to communications and leadership in 4-H youth. While they are broad skills, I feel that youth involved in 4-H programs are more prepared to communicate effectively, and lead (or know when to follow).

In the past few weeks we have been working feverishly to prepare for 4-H Camp. Now, we have been preparing for almost 6 months now – but the reality has set in. In just a few days camp will be upon us and many youth will be placed into our responsibility. It is the responsibility of the teen counselors and myself to communicate with campers, staff, the camp, and each other effectively to ensure that camp goes as great as possible! I would be lying if I told you that communicating with teenagers is simple – but I leave camp every year knowing that I have down my absolute best to talk to them, encourage them, and build them to their best potential while they were counselors at camp. Sometimes the best way for them to understand how to communicate is to see their peers and other adults do it effectively.

Through their communication, teens also begin to build a sense of their place in leadership. Some teens are naturals- stealing the show, talking to the masses, and laughing, while others quietly lead from the sidelines. Camp counselors are able to gain these experiences while at camp by working with our adult staff, and one another. It also shows them that they do not always need to lead – but to also be a good follower. Campers after all tend to mimic what they see!

While I have focused on one opportunity that 4-H youth have, there are many ways that all youth can gain skills in improving their communications and leadership. 4-H offers demonstrations, public speaking, parliamentary procedure, officer positions, training, and individual opportunities for youth to explore their interests. While most youth wouldn’t tell you that their 4-H demonstrations were their favorite part of 4-H – I bet most alumni will tell you that they are a more confident public speaker because of it.