National 4-H Week Open Houses in Big Piney and Pinedale Oct. 8 & Oct. 10
National 4-H Week October 7-13th
October 3, 2012
The Sublette County 4-H Program is hosting two open houses in October to give the public an opportunity to find out more about their programs and activities. The local 4-H program is always looking for new volunteers to assist with the many projects and activities they provide throughout the year. They welcome new youth members any time of the year. The public is invited to come in and visit them during our National 4-H Week Open Houses at the Big Piney Library on Monday Oct 8, 2012 from 4:00-7:00pm (Free hot dogs while supplies last) or on Wednesday October 10, 2012 from 4:00-7:00pm at the University of Wyoming Extension Office at 621 S Pine Street or call at 307-367-4380 or 307-276-3301.
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Its National 4-H Week October 7-13th 2012
Did you know that 2013 will mark 100 years of Wyoming 4-H? Yes, that’s right, 100 years! Ever wonder what it is that keeps a program of 6 million youth, 540,000 volunteers, 3500 professionals and 60 MILLION alumni alive? Its all of us working together to "Make the Best Better:!"
Volunteers are the heartbeat of the 4-H program. Did you know that volunteer time through the Sublette County 4-H program contributes more than $170,223.48 to our community? The formula: the number of volunteers in the program + the number of youth over 16 who are significant junior leader contributor to the community (210 total) times the average annual hours volunteered (37.2 volunteeringamerica.gov) x $21.79 per hour (independent sector.org estimated value of volunteer time for 2011) = $170,223.48! No matter how you look at it, that’s just great for our community!
How exactly do all the youth in the program benefit from it? 4-H’ers across the nation are responding to challenges every day in their communities and their world. As the youth development program of Cooperative Extension and USDA, 4-H is directly connected to the research and resources of 111 land-grant universities and colleges and more than 3,000 local county Extension offices across the nation. 4-H Headquarters resides within the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)within USDA. NIFA integrates research and education to bring groundbreaking discoveries from the lab directly to today’s 4-H youth. NIFA’s alignment with the Federal Administration priorities sets the agenda for 4-H programming –which is encompassed by three broad mission mandates; citizenship, healthy living and science, engineering and technology. Within these mandates from global food security, climate change and sustainable energy to childhood obesity and food safety –young people in 4-H are tackling the nation’s leading issues head-on.
4-H fosters an innovative, "learn by doing" approach with proven results. The out-of-school programming provided by 4-H is a vital complement to the formal education that young people receive during the school day. Out-of-school programming has been proven to deepen a youth’s connection to the subject, reach the underserved and foster the skills that are attractive to employers. The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, a longitudinal study conducted by the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University, shows youth engaged with 4-H are:
• Nearly two times more likely to get better grades in school, have higher levels of academic competence, and an elevated level of engagement at school
• Nearly two times more likely to plan to go to college;
• 41 percent less likely to engage in risky behaviors; and
• 25 percent more likely to positively contribute to their families and communities
• More likely to participate in programs in science, engineering and computer technology, with girls in 4-H being 2 times more likely to pursue science careers over their peers
• 3.3 times more likely to actively contribute to their communities by grade 11 when compared with youth who do not participate in 4-H.
Locally, our youth learn from a variety of volunteers about projects ranging from aerospace to market beef. They also participate in a number of community service projects aiming to improve the lives of others. For example, each year Sublette 4-H members send hundreds of cookies to our troops overseas during the holiday season and gather hundreds of pounds of food from our community to benefit the local food baskets in the spring! Our youth also develop leadership skills by becoming officers in their clubs and committees and by attending special camps and retreats full of leadership building activities. Our youth leadership program is so strong, that for the last 6 years, we have had at least one youth (and sometimes three) selected to the seven member Wyoming State 4-H Leadership Team.
How do you get involved in such a dynamic program? The local 4-H program is always looking for new volunteers to assist with the many projects and activities we provide throughout the year. We also welcome new youth members any time of the year. Please come in and visit us during our National 4-H Week Open Houses at the Big Piney Library on Monday Oct 8, 2012 from 4:00-7:00pm (Free hot dogs while supplies last!) or on Wednesday October 10, 2012 from 4:00-7:00pm at the University of Wyoming Extension Office at 621 S Pine Street or give us a call at 307-367-4380 or 307-276-3301. Join the Revolution Today!
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