4-H Involvement Effects

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One of the biggest events that happens within 4-H is the involvement within the camps. There are two different kinds of 4-H camps. One is for grades fourth through sixth; the other is for grades sixth through eighth. Both camps typically involve the same activities except for a couple. The events that happen at the camps are not only for fun, but also for the growth within the individual. Some of the activities are as follows: canoeing, archery, rifle range, air brush, woodworking shop, fossil museum, craft sidewalk, basketball, gaga ball, and a ropes course. These activities teach the children specific skills even if they do not realize it at the time. The canoeing is used to teach the children how important that it is to work as a team. The archery is used to build their skills within this sport and show them that patience is key. The rifle range is to teach the kids how important gun safety is. The ropes course is one of the most popular activities within the camp. It is used to show the children that in some obstacles, you have to work with one another to achieve your goal. Without teamwork, the tasks are impossible.

4-H camp also offers a sense of responsibility and respect. While at camp, the children are responsible for many things. They are responsible for keeping their bed and suitcases clean at all times. They are responsible for how their entire cabin looks as well. If it is not clean, they have to go to the back of the line when it is time to eat which generally adds an hour onto your time. They are also required to manage their money throughout the week as well. All of the food is provided with the camp fee, but if they wish to buy any food during the meal times or wish to do extra activities, they must pay for these things. Also, they are required to be respectful to each other as well as the leaders and staff. Any leader or staff member has the power to call the parents of the child and send them home at any given moment. If they show disrespect, they will be punished depending on how severe their actions were. These camps teach the kids that responsibility and respect is something that you have to have in life in order to do most of the things that you want to do. It shows them how crucial that it is to be respectful to one another no matter how bad the situation may be.

There are many things that you can do through 4-H. One of the most popular events that people are involved in is the involvement with the Appalachian Fair. The Appalachian Fair is a very poplar event that happens in Tennessee each and every year. People come from all surrounding areas to come see what the community and groups have put together. One of the most popular areas at the fair is the 4-H area. The 4-H section of the fair contains many things. Every member that is involved in 4-H throughout the year has the opportunity to make items throughout the year to put in the fair. Some items that are made are put into a contest while others are put out on tables for sale. All of the profits gained from the 4-H section of the fair go to helping fund the many activities that 4-H are involved with. They also have another section at the fair where members can bring their animals that they have worked with and trained over the past year. They bring the animals in for the shows. For example, they have cow shows and pig shows. They also have the opportunity to bring their animals and sell them if they wish. There are a huge variety of animals to choose from if someone was interested in buying one so that they could enter the show the following year. This whole event teaches the younger members about how to properly take care of their animals. It also helps them understand how important that it is to maintain their livestock in order to make a profit from it.

In an article written by Christopher T. Stripling called “Understand Life Skills Gained from the Reasons for Youth Participation in the Tennessee 4-H Sheep Skillathon”, Stripling writes about how the involvement in sheep showing within the 4-H organization is very effective within the area of development with the youth. The article states, “we determined the effects of participating in one state’s 4-H sheep skillathon on youths’ life development and the youths’ reasons for participating, the target population was 2014 Tennessee 4-H sheep skillathon participants, and we obtained a 90% response rate.” This proves that most all of the youth involved within 4-H events receive a positive impact.

4-H is also big on making sure that everyone is aware of his or her health. According to an article written by Henry Cook in 2013 called “4-H Health Strike”, 4-H conducted a challenge called the Healthy Living Wellness Challenge. During this event, the members were challenged to eat all the right foods for two weeks. They were also challenged to complete a set of exercises to improve the shape that they were in. In addition to these activities, they went around the community giving out free fruit and exercise plans to people in the surrounding area. They also shared the challenge with them and explained the dangers of earing fast food daily. They shared the many effects that could come from bad eating habits as well. This event was organized to help the members and the communities realize that the importance of keeping a healthy body weight. They also carried out a road race called the Amazing Race. Anyone could be in the race and all of the profits went to the 4-H fund so that they could afford some more healthy snacks for the kids at school. The main reason for these events was to show the members how important that it is to be healthy and feel good at all times. This showed them that being healthy is “cool” as well as extremely needful in their daily lives.

4-H also has many contests throughout the school year for the younger, involved members. One of the events that the children seem to like the most is the poster contest. Each week, the organization thinks of a new educational theme for the students to make a poster on. At the next meeting, the posters are collected and judged. Once the posters and judged and winners are declared, the children get colored ribbons according to the place that they got. This is extremely important if you want to continue being in 4-H in the future because you have to have so many ribbons before you can advance forward. There are many other contests that the students can enter besides the poster contest. Another popular contest is the cooking contest. During this contest, the members cook food according to the division that they are in. After they cook their items, the food is brought to the judges, and they rate the food according to the quality and taste of the items. After they pick the winners, the individuals receive a ribbon and can advance to the statewide competition. These events