A Summer Full of 4-H Projects

Leadership is one of the many project areas 4-H members can participate in.

In addition to my Horticulture projects, I got to work on many 4-H projects this summer.  In fact, my first day on the job I started to plan for a cooking Special Interest, or SPIN, club.  I worked with the kids at the Hoopeston Teen Reach Center in Hoopeston, IL.  This is an after school program that provides daily activities for the youth of Hoopeston over the summer.  The SPIN club took place over six weeks and the kids got to make things like rice krispie treats, salsa, and apple crisp.  The kids really seemed to like working in the kitchen and one boy told me, "I've never really thought of cooking as a manly thing until today."  It was really great to see how excited they were about cooking.

I also got to go to the Champaign, Iroquois, and Vermilion County Fairs to assist with general project entries and judging.  I got to serve as a fill-in electricity judge at the Vermilion County Fair and was the superintendent and grade recorder for aerospace projects in Champaign and Iroquois Counties.  It was really fun to assist with a project area that I was not very familiar with.

Randy McDaniel, owner of Slot & Wing Hobbies in Champaign, judging aerospace projects.

I was a 4-H member growing up, but since I have worked for Extension I have learned so much more about 4-H.  It was really eye opening to see all of the behind the scenes work that happens to prepare the all of the livestock and general project shows.  It was a great experience and I am lucky to have been a part of it.