Celebrating National 4-H week Oct. 2-8

What do you think of when you hear 4-H? Many people might respond with animals or showmanship. However, 4-H stands for four “H” words – head, heart, hands, and health – and it consists of so much more than just animals and showmanship. Individuals in 4-H learn things like leadership, communication, interviewing, time management and other lifelong skills.

“Head” is one of the chosen words to help our youth think clearly in all situations. Many times, our emotions control our reactions, but when we take a deep breath and hesitate just a moment, we allow ourselves time to disassociate ourselves. This gives us the ability to think more clearly by communicating what we want or how we feel.

“Heart” refers to our loyalty. When we put our heart into something, we are determined to see it through, thus committing to it. What are you committed to that you want to see succeed?

“Hands” is a big one in 4-H. This is our symbol of volunteering and committing ourselves to service. That can be at home helping our families, out in the community helping friends and neighbors, or anywhere in the world helping people we might not even know yet.

“Health” is the final “H” and is meant to increase our awareness of food and nutrition. As well as all aspects of health including but not limited to our mental, behavioral, emotional and physical well-being.

A great aspect of 4-H is the leadership children learn every day. They are learning officer positions like president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and reporter in their clubs and how to run meetings using Parliamentary Procedure. By gaining this knowledge at an early age, these kids are showing that they will help our communities prosper in the future.

Communication is something many struggle with, and 4-H shows kids how to communicate to all ages well. During a 4-H year, there are competitions where kids can practice and improve their communication skills. Communication Arts is a competition where kids are judged based on their ability to speak in public. They receive feedback and are critiqued by the judges in a positive way so that they can grow in their ability. If a child starts out giving speeches at age 5 and continues to learn from each experience while improving their abilities, by the time they are adults, then they will be years ahead of their peers. They will be able to speak to groups, accept criticism, and adapt to an audience.

Interview skills are tested every year that a child exhibits during their Achievement Day(s) or county fair. They communicate with judges by answering questions about their projects – static or livestock – and explaining how they created their project. The child might explain how they came up with the idea, what they did to create or care for the project/animal, what they plan to do with project/animal after exhibiting, and what they may change or improve on it in the future.

Time management is another important skill that these kids learn to understand. Some of them have a few dozen projects and they need to manage their time so that they can exhibit their best work on each project. These kids must balance meetings, school, other clubs and organizations, sports, family needs and/or other activities.

The skills that the children learn while completing their projects can influence new interests. The skills can help them in hobbies or careers for years to come. For instance, a person who learns how and when to utilize a specific skill, like sewing, baking, investing, communicating, interviewing, etc. will be able to use those skills for the rest of their lives.

Many people see 4-H kids showing animals at county or state fairs and think that in order to participate in 4-H, you need to have and care for animals. However, as you can see, that is not true. There are so many aspects of 4-H and the more a child invests in the program, the more the child will benefit from its diversity.