National 4-H Week Oct. 4-10

by Joey Johnson,

University Extension Educator

More than 6 million young people across the country will celebrate National 4-H Week, an annual celebration of 4-H during the first full week of October. Hot Springs County 4-H will leverage National 4-H Week this year to showcase the great things that 4-H offers young people and highlights the incredible youth in the community who work each day to make a positive impact on the community.

This year Hot Springs County 4-H took part in the Thermopolis Octobrewfest Saturday, Sept. 26. 4-H members hosted games that were free to the public and we promoted 4-H to youth. We are excited to visit with the public about Hot Springs County 4-H and what the future holds for us. Hot Springs County 4-H can also be found on Facebook at Hot Springs County 4-H if you want to learn more about our schedules and what kids in our community are doing in 4-H

This past year we were excited to offer archery for our Cloverbud 4-H program and the Lights On afterschool program which is available to all kids K-8. Starting in October we will be offering two new clubs for Hot Springs County 4-Hers, we will have a shooting sports club and a horse club. Members must be enrolled in 4-H shooting sports or horse to join the respective clubs.

The Mustangs 4-H Club will be hosting the grand opening of the Riverbend Bark Park on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 9 a.m. The grand opening welcomes the public to bring their dogs to use the park. This has been a great community service project from the Mustangs 4-H Club. We encourage you to come down to the park to see and use this facility built for the community of Thermopolis.

4-H member and Junior Leader Jessie Pennoyer states, “4-H has helped me learn more about myself. It has taught me to be more responsible, not only for myself but also for my project animals. We also do a lot of community service projects, helping others on many different levels whether it is delivering food to those in need, picking up roadside trash, serving refreshments to the workers at the Kiwanis Heath Fair, or even building a community dog park. 4-H is also a lot of fun, there are so many projects to choose from, there is something for everyone.”

Research has proven that participation in 4-H has a significant positive impact on young people. Recent findings from the Tufts University 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development indicate that, when compared to their peers, young people in 4-H are:

•Nearly four times more likely to contribute to their communities,

•Two times more likely to pursue healthy behaviors.

•Two times more likely to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs in the out-of-school time.

In Hot Springs County, more than 140 4-H youth and 45 volunteers from the community are involved in 4 H. There are 60 project areas to choose from.

Learn more about 4-H at http://www.4-H.org, find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/4-H and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/4H.