Published: September 23, 2008 05:22 pm            

Extension Service – 4-H news

Question for adults: How much do you value a one-on-one conversation with a young person?

Question for youth: How comfortable are you at holding a conversation with an adult? Please, hold your answers until later in this article.

In 4-H, we the see the importance of preparing young people for the future. As youth development advocates, one of the most useful ways of providing guidance is by taking nothing for granted in a young person’s development.

Never assume what another person may or may not know. Everything is an opportunity to learn and grow.

That being said on Sept. 6, we held our annual Randolph County Youth Fair at center court of the Randolph Mall.

The youth fair is a one-day showcase of projects completed by youth throughout Randolph County within the past year. Qualified judges were on hand to ask entrants questions and place items as blue, red or white ribbon (green ribbon for cloverbuds).

Several blue ribbon entries were chosen to move on to compete at the N.C. State Fair in Raleigh.

The talented youth of your community entered a variety of arts and crafts that were, to say the least, magnificent.

We had hand-made garments, wooden sculptures, baskets, scrapbooks, photography, quilt racks, jewelry and crocheted items just to name a few.

Youth gained the experience of creating something and entering it in a contest, but you know at 4-H we always have to take it that one step further.

The real value in this event comes with the opportunity to sit down with a qualified, trusted adult and engage in dialog about their experience. Youth between the ages of 5 and 18 were asked questions such as would you take me through the process of creating this item, what did you learn from this experience or if you could do one thing different in your creative process, what would that be.

We as adults had the expectation for each and every participant to make proper eye contact, sit up straight and give thoughtful honest answers. It was also our expectation for youth to accept constructive critiques of their work and use that information as a learning tool.

To some, this may seem like a small thing but to many, I believe this is a huge accomplishment.

Now, remember my question for you at the beginning of this article – think back if you must and remember the difficulties you may have had in keeping a coherent conversation going with an adult.

Would you have benefited from opportunities that required you to shake hands, look someone in the eye and relay information in a professional manner? Would it have hurt you?

When I talk about events that we hold through 4-H - sometimes you may be reading about livestock shows, food show demonstrations or camping experiences but keep in mind that these are also carefully thought out opportunities for youth to learn and practice skills that will carry them way beyond that one experience.

Learning the proper names for a cow’s anatomy and how to rate them by looking at head size and stance is a great way to practice reasoning skills.

Picking a recipe and coming up with ways to substitute ingredients to make it healthier is an excellent opportunity to work on decision making and being the scientist through trial and error while those overnight retreats where youth are in workshops or perhaps even rooming with people from across the state whom they may have never met before force youth to make introductions and hone those ever important people skills.

In 4-H, it all matters and we try to make it all relevant and relatable.

I appreciate all our volunteers, parents and community members who go above and beyond to make conversations between youth and adults the positive experience that can make a difference in our community.

For more information about 4-H, give us a call at (336) 218-4000 in Liberty; (336) 819-3000 in Archdale/Trinity and (336) 318-6000 in Asheboro.

4-H is open to girls and boys ages 5 to 19 without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin or disability.



Jody Terry is the 4-H program assistant for Randolph County 4-H, part of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service in Asheboro. She can be reached at (336) 318-6013.

        

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