PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 21, No. 17, April 4, 2002

4-H celebrates centennial with unique ‘gifts’

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor
(217) 244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu

Photo by David Riecks/UIUC ACES ITCS Traveling cake A cake honoring the centennial anniversary of Illinois 4-H is displayed at the annual open house of the UI’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. Wes Seitz, professor of guided individual study, constructed the plywood cake in his garage and drove the cake to Washington, D.C., for display at the national 4-H centennial celebration. The cake’s six layers are individually wired with 102 lights, representing Illinois’ 102 counties. The cake is 10 feet tall, 12 feet in diameter and topped with a rotating 4-H clover.

More than 1,200 people rallied on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 28 lobbying for the inception of a national youth development plan.

The "Power of YOUth" rally was sponsored by the National 4-H Council as part of its centennial anniversary celebration.

The centennial celebration also included a two-day summit meeting, the National Conversation on Youth Development in the 21st Century, during which delegates from the 50 states and Puerto Rico shared ideas about youth development issues.

A delegation will present the final report to President Bush, the Cabinet, Congress and other national leaders during a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden later this month.

"Many groups, when they celebrate a centennial, go for a monument," said Janice Seitz, assistant dean and director, UI Extension 4-H Youth Development. "We decided we wanted to give a gift to the nation in terms of action steps for youth development to meet the country’s emerging needs."

The National Conversation was the culmination of more than 1,800 similar state and local meetings, which were begun in October and involved more than 50,000 people.

Delegates to the National Conversation included youth and adults involved in 4-H as well as representatives from schools, businesses, churches, government and other youth organizations.

<strong> Photo by L. Brian Stauffer </strong><hr /><br /> /UIUC ACES ITCS Guiding hand Suzi Humphries, 4-H leader and great-granddaughter of 4-H’s founder, William B. Otwell, talks with club members at the Carlinville, Ill. Extension center. Each year, more than 6.8 million youth involved in 4-H programs nationwide benefit from the guidance and friendship of adult and youth volunteer leaders. During 2001, UI Extension 4-H Youth Development had more than 20,600 adult and 4,245 youth volunteer leaders guiding its 371,516 enrolled members and participants.

Illinois' delegation was led by Robert Easter, interim dean of the UI College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences; and Dennis Campion, associate dean, extension and outreach.

During Illinois' state conversation, which was held Dec. 8, 2001, in Tinley Park, participants identified such needs as promoting awareness of cultural diversity and tolerance as well as teaching and promoting life skills such as respect, responsibility, anger management and problem solving.

Participants also recommended establishing teen councils to market and recruit youth for community activities. They also suggested forming coalitions of community organizations and schools to pool resources and address common problems.

In keeping with 4-H's emphasis on community service, the 4-H centennial celebration also included a Power of YOUth volunteerism drive during which youth and adults pledged hours of service work in their communities.

During the National Conversation, 4-H youth presented a symbolic check to the nation for more than 1.3 million volunteer service hours pledged by more than 100,000 youth and adults. The goal for the Power of YOUth volunteerism drive is 5 million hours of pledges.

"Because community service is such a huge part of 4-H, we wanted to emphasize that," Seitz said. "The research is so clear: When you involve young people in community service at an early age, they tend to continue that practice in adulthood."

The spirit of community service is exemplified by Illinois 4-H members' annual 4-H Can Make a Difference Food Drive, which collects food for donation to food banks, pantries, shelters and meal programs statewide. The food drive, now in its sixth year, garnered a record-setting 82 tons of food at the 2001 Illinois State Fair.

The 4-H Can Make A Difference food drive and Illinois 4-H have been recognized by the Illinois Food Banks/Second Harvest Network, USA Weekend and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for their outstanding service work.

More than 6.8 million youth nationwide are enrolled in 4-H, the nation’s largest youth development program, which was founded in 1902. Enrollment in Illinois’ 4-H program has increased steadily the past five years and now stands at more than 371,516 youth and 26,000 volunteer leaders.

The Cooperative Extension System conducts the 4-H program throughout the 3,067 counties in the United States, the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and five territories. The Cooperative Extension System is an alliance between the U.S. Department of Agriculture, state land-grant universities and county governments.

4-H: More than just fair ribbons

Photo by David Riecks/UIUC ACES ITCS Diverse options Maureen Crinion feeds a goat at the Champaign County Fair during a 4-H livestock judging contest. Today’s 4-H members can choose from among 200 types of projects, including agriculture. Aerospace technology, biology, entomology, leadership and photography also are popular projects.

Among the photographs, awards and decorations on Janice Seitz's office wall looms one that seems out of place: a framed white ribbon from an Ohio county fair, a poignant reminder from Seitz’s childhood about the critical life skills a humble 4-H project can teach.

When it was bestowed by the county fair judge on then-10-year-old Janice for her unevenly stitched skirt, the third-place ribbon evoked disappointment and bitter tears. The garment she’d happily crafted on her grandmother’s treadle sewing machine was an utter failure, it seemed.

That night at dinner, the sullen little seamstress told her family she would not model the skirt in the fair’s fashion pageant, in keeping with the fair’s protocol.

"And my mother, as she still does today when she wants to make a point, said, 'Janice Anne! You will indeed!' " Seitz said, with a laugh. "‘I want you to put aside your disappointment and think about what all you've learned from this project,' and she went on about all the things I'd learned, like making decisions and working with others. I remember distinctly she ended by saying, ‘And I hope what you really remember is you don't always have to be perfect. Giving your best is all anyone can ever expect of you.’ The next day, of course, I was in the fashion show."

Although sewing may not have been her forte, Seitz’s 4-H independent study project assisting her school’s first-grade teacher, led to Seitz's become the school’s first pupil to attend a four-year college and to a career in education.

When Seitz was receiving her doctorate, she pondered what had contributed to her success and remembered her mother’s counsel about the skirt.

"4-H has everything to do with who and where I am today," Seitz said. "4-H is all about life skills."

Accountability, determination, cooperation and initiative are among the many critical life skills learned from 4-H projects.

When Seitz is at the Illinois State Fair every summer, whether she is consoling the disappointed child or the angry parent whose blue-ribbon dreams went unfulfilled or she is congratulating the lucky winner, she gently reminds each that the self-development a project demanded has more lasting value than any tactile award.

Seitz frequently talks with people about their experiences in the 4-H program and said she finds that the awards won fade quickly in people’s minds.

"They talk about friendships, the fun they had, what they learned and the life skills, not the ribbons they received," Seitz said.

Furthermore, the 4-H program can also be an equalizer, enabling children who are not popular or athletic to enjoy recognition for other talents they have, she said.

When the 4-H program began more than 100 years ago, its focus was primarily agrarian and its membership mainly rural. However, more than 35 percent of current 4-H members live in urban areas, and today’s members can choose from more than 200 career-related projects besides traditional projects such as cooking and agriculture, including robotics, leadership development and performing arts.