This week I have received several phone calls from parents inquiring about the Butler County 4-H program. If you happen to be a parent or grandparent that has often wondered about the benefits of the 4-H program, I highly invite you to continue reading this article about a program that has a long history that continues to make a brighter future for our youth. The Butler County 4-H program consists of 62 4-H clubs with a total enrollment of 1,236 youth. 4-H is an educational program for boys and girls to gain numerous learning experiences from club meetings, social activities, tours, camps and fairs.
Membership eligibility for the 4-H Cloverbud program begins when a child has reached age 5 and is enrolled in kindergarten as of January 1 of the current year. Membership to the 4-H club program begins when a child is at least age 8 and enrolled in 3rd grade as of January 1 of the current year. Ohio 4-H membership eligibility ends December 31st of the year in which an individual attains the age of 19.
The Butler County 4-H program allows youth to learn about numerous projects and careers. Once they have completed their 4-H careers they have gained a wealth of knowledge, developed relationships for life and engaged in a lot of community service activities. The research studies have shown the following in comparison with other youth that young people involved in 4-H, experience:
- greater educational achievements
- greater motivation and aspirations for the future education
- more civic active
- report better grades and higher levels of academic competence
- greater desire to go to college
All of these attributes will help our youth to better compete in a global society. The number one required skill in the workplace today is communication skills. In addition to developing communication skills for the workplace, our youth learn the importance of having good self-esteem. Our youth need to feel good about their lives and know that they can make a positive contribution to their local communities. Our youth can learn so many life skills by participating in a variety of 4-H projects. There are over 200 4-H projects available for youth to select from. In addition to the projects, there are countless leadership opportunities, summer enrichment programs, and a variety of scholarships for college.
I would like to invite parents and youth to a Butler County 4-H program scheduled for January 31, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the OSU Extension Office. This will be an Open House Expo which will highlight everything offered by the Butler County 4-H program. This is a great time to come out to learn about 4-H projects from our 4-H youth. This is the perfect time for potential new 4-H families to learn what all is involved with taking 4-H projects from start to finish at the 2015 Butler County Fair.
Typical questions families can get answered by attending this event would include things like:
(1) Project cost,
(2) Hours involved in completing the projects,
(3) Where do I go to get assistance with my project,
(4) How many projects can I take to the county fair,
(5) How do I get my child enrolled in a 4-H club,
(6) What is the membership cost,
(7) How often are club meetings held,
(8) Are there summer enrichment programs,
(9) Are there leadership opportunities,
(10) When is the county fair, and so much more.
There will be adult advisors, experienced 4-H youth and Extension Educators in attendance to answer your questions. Morning refreshments will be provided for this FREE event which is open to the general public. This will be the perfect time to also find out about all the 4-H clubs and learn about projects that you might have an interest in. The deadline for 4-H enrollment and summer projects is April 1, 2015.
Come and browse around to see what great opportunities 4-H has to offer. Regardless of where you live, you will find an educational project that will appeal to you. Come and see us on January 31, 2015 from 9:00 am until 12:00 pm at the OSU Extension Office located at 1802 Princeton Road, Hamilton OH.
For more information please contact Kevin Harris, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development (513)-785-6650 or Erin Simpson-Sloan, 4-H Program Assistant (513)-785-6667.
For up-to-date program information, check us out on the web at: butler.osu.edu.
News Release provided by Kevin Harris.