NORWICH – Newly-elected officers in the 4-H Leaders’ Association have vowed to carry out the mission of the program, teaching youth knowledge and life skills as they also work to recruit local volunteers and try to break some of the misconceptions associated with the organization.
The Leaders’ Association Officers Alice Andrews (President), Kathy Austin (Vice President), Rhonda Turrell (Secretary), Louise Butcher (Treasurer) and Ippie Spencer (News Reporter), were elected by members of the 4-H leaders’ association in November and have since worked collaboratively to expand on the mission of 4-H by advising youth in different 4-H clubs and seeking new volunteers to help out.
“What we do is really a chance to increase the confidence and the self-esteem in youth,” said Andrews. She explained that this goal is met by hands-on learning and exposure to fields that are related to the interests of 4-H members, where 4-H youth are in charge of their own clubs, raising their own funds and putting together their own projects. Parents and community volunteers are merely advisors to what the kids decide to do, added Austin.
While 4-H does its best to accommodate the interests of all youth members, according to Richard Turrell, 4-H volunteer coordinator, the leaders’ association still struggles in breaking the misconception that 4-H is all about agriculture in a county where agriculture is the primary industry.
“The notion that 4-H is all about cows and sheep is really a misnomer,” said Turrell. He explained that 4-H organizations nationwide – including the Chenango County 4-H – have several different clubs that meet the interests of youth members. A 4-H in New York City recently added a robotics club for interested youth, he said, and while such a club might not be as successful in Chenango County, 4-H leaders remain open to the possibility of similar clubs as long as there is enough interested youth and volunteers to advise them.
The goal of 4-H is to teach knowledge while also teaching poise and responsibility; volunteers and youth members take pride in an organization that offers different clubs to meet different interests, said Turrell.
With 200 members, 80 volunteers and 3 more potential clubs to form in Bainbridge, New Berlin and Sherburne in the coming months, the learders’ association is constantly looking for more volunteers to help guide youth involved in 4-H clubs.
“The problem in offering too many different programs,” said Secretary Rhonda Turrell, “is that we have to have the kids’ interest and the volunteers willing to lead these different programs.”
Said Butcher, “It’s about education and experience that lasts, weather it’s a year from now or ten years from now and we’re always looking for people to help out with that.”