Dodge County Celebrates National 4-H Week

In Dodge County 4-H members are planning special activities and events in observance of National 4-H Week, October 6-12. Dodge County 4-H’ers are among the more than 6 million young people across the country who will participate in the celebration.

Survey

“Wisconsin 4-H has a deep history of developing life skills in youth,” said Witzel. “Young people develop leadership, citizenship, and community engagement through 4-H. We have been studying the impact of 4-H on our members through a Thrive Survey of youth 13-19. They have reported growth in Youth-Adult Partnership: Youth rated four items (Adult leaders… “Listen to my ideas”, “Treat me fairly”, “Take me seriously”, “Respect me”) on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 “not true at all” to 7 “very true”. (Mean 5.69).

“From that data, you can see that 4-H is not only for youth,” Witzel added. “It’s for adults who, as volunteer leaders, can share their skills and expertise with young people. These adults are the positive role models for young people in their communities”. The caring support of adult volunteers and mentors inspires young people in 4-H to work collaboratively. As well as take the lead on their own projects and set and achieve goals with confidence. 4-H’ers chart their own course, explore important issues and define their place in the world.

It is through this network of volunteer leaders, state land-grant universities, state and local governments, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that 4-H has been able to stimulate youth to develop life skills.

In Dodge County, over 125 adult volunteer leaders work with 632 youth from 5 year kindergarten to one year beyond high school in 22 4-H clubs throughout the county. Programs are conducted in 3,100 counties nationwide. In addition, some 50 countries around the globe enroll a community of 7 million youth in programs similar to 4-H.