You’ve probably heard of 4-H, but did you know about the many valuable opportunities the program provides for youth across Nova Scotia, Canada, and around the globe?
While being a part of the organization, there are many key takeaways, valuable lessons, and a plethora of hands-on learning that youth engage in each day while outside of school.
Over the years, 4-H has always been slightly misunderstood. There has been a misconception that the program is only suited for children who grow up on farms or around livestock.
This is not the case as there are many valuable lessons learned alongside raising and showing livestock.
I was able to catch up with Nicole Martin, Valley Regional Program Coordinator with 4-H Nova Scotia, who oversees the Annapolis, Kings, and Hants County clubs and their programming.
“4-H is a youth development organization where members can gather life skills and livestock experience, but then they also gain skills like public speaking and judging while making friends, connections and networking,” Martin shared.
The club members range from the ages of 7-21, providing many skills and opportunities for growth, setting them up for success.
Last week, 4-H clubs in Kings County held their annual achievement days in Berwick at the Kings Mutual Century Centre.
With many projects on display, it was fascinating to see the amount of effort and talent demonstrated by so many youth in Kings County.
“Our motto is learn to do by doing. A lot of our program is specifically hands on, such as woodworking, sewing, scrapbooking, and much more. Even though we have leaders that go through the training and screening process, they show the members who then they do it all themselves,” Martin explained.
Some of the life skills projects include woodworking, welding, cake decorating, scrapbooking, sewing, and much more! These specific items were crafted by individuals and then judged following months of hard work! Achievement Days also includes a number of livestock being shown including waterfowl, poultry, beef and dairy cattle, sheep, cavy, as well as other animals.
4-H Achievement Days is a two-day event where clubs across Kings County bring their life skills and livestock projects to be judged against other members.
Showmanship classes help members grow their confidence as they are expected to go through different aspects of showing the animal to judges.
Showmanship and confirmation classes occur for all livestock projects. Smaller animals such as cavy, sheep, and goat take place on the first day, while beef and dairy happen on day two. The top showmen in each category go on to the grand champion livestock showmanship, where they show all of the animals. In the name of tradition, the overall grand showman gets a bucket of water over their head!
This year’s Grand Champion Showmanship Class “bucket dump” winner was Karlee Saulnier from the Horton 4-H Club, captured by Evan Van Oostrum!
The 4-H program lists a number of opportunities which allow members to pick a topic of interest.
Members can take part in programs that include photography, basic and advanced cake decorating, programming and building of computers, a variety of craft making, learning first aid, proper food preparation techniques, learning about the outdoors such as trees, hiking, plants and wildlife, horticulture, along with livestock, from beef, cavy, dairy, dogs, rabbits, and much more.
Members follow a list of expectations to help them achieve their goals while working on projects in the program.
Aside from learning specific skills, there are many additional advantages to the program. It provides youth with the opportunity to gain self-confidence, while building friendships, working with others, and making lifelong memories.
Members don’t only learn skills specific to their interests. During the program, members are expected to give a speech or a demonstration to help them develop their public speaking skills.
They also gain skills in judging. For example a member who is a part of woodworking, would judge four woodworking items, rank them, and give reasons to explain their rankings. This helps members develop a deeper understanding of their project and gain insight into how their projects are judged.
In Nova Scotia and across Canada, 4-H relies heavily on provincial and federal funding which has recently been cut. This has resulted in members having to do a lot more fundraising. The funding goes specifically towards two major provincial events for members.
This organization is a vital stepping stone for children and teenagers across Nova Scotia and Canada.
Even though there are competitive opportunities, not all members have to compete. They can be apart of the club just for fun while following the guidelines of the organization.
Grace and Lucy, both in 4-H, we are able to touch on how much they both enjoyed being a part of the program.
“The people and friends and the opportunity to speak infront of crowds, it helps. I really enjoy doing projects and socializing,” Grace and Lucy shared.
In Kings County there are 5 clubs and 141 members and clover buds including 60 leaders and volunteers.
You can learn more about 4-H, donate to the organization, enrol your children, or even volunteer with the organization by visiting their website online at the link attached below ⤵️
Special thanks to 4-H members for giving some insight on the organization and congratulations to all those who participated in Achievement Days!
Adrian J.
