For Immediate Release:
January 6, 2014
4-H’ers Growing Up:
4-H Members Are Leaders of the Past, Present and Future
Club members learn leadership, citizenship and life skills
FREEHOLD, NJ - Join the ranks of the famous ... Join 4-H!
What do Faith Hill, Al Gore and David Letterman have in common? They were all 4-H'ers.
It's true. Faith Hill reportedly first sang in public at a 4-H mother-daughter luncheon when she was seven. Former Vice President Al Gore showed Angus beef cattle in Tennessee. And before we knew David Letterman as a late-night talk-show host, he hosted a children's television show, "Clover Power," that featured 4-H members.
As we know, they did not grow up to be farmers. So if you think 4-H is all about agriculture and rural America, you need to hear about the 4-H of the 21st Century. 4-H is a community of young people across America who are learning leadership, citizenship and life skills.
“4-H is quite proud of its traditional roots in agriculture and domestic arts,” said Monmouth County Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry, liaison the County’s Rutgers Cooperative Extension Service and 4-H. “4-H is so much more in 2014.”
Today's 4-H programs focus on science, public speaking, environmental stewardship, robotics, creative arts, small animals, horses, engineering and more. 4-H youth become community leaders. Many began their leadership role in their community clubs.
Members can take on leadership roles at many levels - club, county, state and national. An example of a Monmouth 4-H member taking on a leadership position is McKayla Tyrrell of Freehold. McKayla serves as a Food and Fitness Ambassador, part of the 4-H Get Moving Get Healthy Initiative supported through a Wal-Mart grant. McKayla teaches local youth about healthy lifestyle habits that are helping to fight the childhood obesity epidemic.
4-H'ers are leaders in trying to improve their communities through a variety of service projects. At the South Jersey 4-H Teen Conference, scheduled for February in Long Branch, 4-H’ers will lead by example. They will volunteer at a number of places that are still working to conquer the effects of Superstorm Sandy. Some of the sites are the Ronald McDonald House, The Soul Kitchen, Oceanport Cares and the Long Branch Public Library. The conference is supported by an ArtHelps grant, using creativity to help heal our community.
Nationwide, 4-H leadership has produced 14 governors, 33 university presidents and chancellors and 31 company CEOs.
If your child is interested in being part of the same organization as 14 professional athletes, 23 recording artists and four astronauts, look into 4-H. For information about the Monmouth County 4-H Program, call the 4-H office weekdays 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at 732-431-7260 ext. 7264.
The 4-H Youth Development Program is part of Rutgers Cooperative Extension, a unit of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. 4-H educational programs are offered to all youth, grades K-13 (one year out of high school), on an age-appropriate basis, without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, marital status, domestic partnership status, military service, veteran status and any other category protected by law.
To learn about the New Jersey 4-H Program, administered by Rutgers Cooperative Extension visit the website at http://nj4h.rutgers.edu/.
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