100 Years of 4-H

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• 4-H Marks 100 Years Of Developing Youth Skills In Wisconsin

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  This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 4-H program in Wisconsin. While the core values of “Head, Heart, Hands, and Health” have remained the same since it was founded, state program leaders say that 4-H has evolved to meet contemporary needs and challenges.

  In the beginning, 4-H developed as a corn project, and was meant to engage children as a way of changing their parents’ behavior.

  Dale Leidheiser, the state program director for 4-H Youth Development, explained that farmers were reluctant to use new hybrid seed corn in the early part of the 20th century. 4-H, by encouraging children to plant the new crops and then showcasing the results, helped changed adult attitudes.

  Leidheiser, who has been a youth development professional for 36 years, has seen the program evolve and grow. While it was only farm kids that took place in the “corn clubs” in the early years, 4-H has expanded significantly. In 2013, said Leidheiser, 355,000 young people across Wisconsin took part in Extension-run youth development programs, “in urban settings, in rural settings, and in suburbs across the state.”

  “When you’ve got that many young people involved, it’s really the profile of our whole state,” said Leidheiser. “We’ve got an obligation to really meet the needs of young people across the state. We receive tax dollars to help support 4-H youth development because we’re part of the land-grant university system, so we reach out and into communities across the state — wherever we can really try and support positive youth development.”

  During an episode of Wisconsin Public Radio’s “The Larry Meiller Show” on Wednesday, a Madison resident identified as Jeff called in to attest to how 4-H has grown. As a 4-H leader for 25 years, he has lived through the evolution.

  “I just want to change people’s minds about what 4-H is,” he said. “It isn’t just cows and horses, although that’s certainly an important part of it.”

  As an example, Jeff mentioned that the largest 4-H project in Wisconsin is photography. In addition, he said, 4-H allows young people to do astronomy at a high level. Thanks to global networking, said Jeff, “4-H kids are able to get online and use research grade telescopes to do real, live research around the world.”

  Dale Leidheiser said that in addition to meeting the needs of young people, 4-H is working to meet societal needs as well. A common topic in the news is that the U.S. is lagging behind in training students for jobs in the science, technology, engineering and math fields. 4-H has a STEM project specifically designed to address that.

  “We’re working to really grow this next generation … and taking a look at what skills young people need to join the workforce in the future,” he said. “We’re having an impact on the economy down the road because of the skills that young people are learning in 4-H programs.”

  4-H aims to continue to evolve and stay relevant in the 21st Century.

  “When I think about the history that we’ve got in our state, the origins of 4-H are all about science and technology,” Leidheiser said. “It’s not just about the content of what young people are learning; it’s also the process that we use. It’s about experiential learning … What we know is that when we experience something, it proves something to us.”