The county where the first California 4-H club was established in 1913 must take special pride in its unique distinction as the origin of a successful statewide youth development program offered by UC Cooperative Extension, judging from an article that ran yesterday in the Times-Standard. The story was also picked up in the Contra Costa Times.
Writer Jessie Faulkner put Humboldt County's 4-H claim to fame near the top of a feature marking National 4-H Week, Oct. 4-10. The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors also issued a proclamation in honor of National 4-H Week, the story said.
The article helped spread the word about the evolution of 4-H from its roots teaching ag and home economics to boys and girls in rural communities to programs for all youth that develop leadership, life skills and citizenship. The article mentioned a variety of 4-H programs, including animal husbandry, archery, quilting, small engines and videography.
Faulker spoke to Humboldt County 4-H youth development program representative Sandy Sathrum about a recently developed 4-H North Coast Youth Summit, a leadership skill-building conference. Two years ago, 4-H All-Stars came up with the idea for the summit after participating in a Sacramento leadership conference. Since its beginning, eight other local organizations have joined in the planning, Sathrum told the reporter.
Humboldt 4-H also organized a Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Expo - providing hands-on learning opportunities to local youth. More than 500 people attended the Redwood Acres event, Sathrum said, and plans are underway for the 2010 SET Expo.
Sandy Sathrum works with youth.
Ten Trabuco Trailblazers experimented with baking soda and rubbing alcohol, yeast, brown sugar, corn syrup and dried leaves to fill green 4-H balloons with ethanol. The youth are part of Orange County's largest 4-H club, which is 160 members strong, according to the Register.
The national science experiment is conducted each year during 4-H week to generate 4-H youth's interest in pursuing an education and career in science. In the Register's one-minute, 42-second video, bright and earnest 4-H members, like hundreds of thousands of others across the nation, learned about alternatives to fossil fuels by creating it themselves.
"Today, people use about 2 percent more energy than they did the year before," said one 4-H member leading the experiment. "How can we conserve our natural resources?"
biofuelblast
Around the country and around California 4-H youth learned about bio-fuel by conducting a national science experiment yesterday. The 4-H members learned how cellulose and sugars in plants such as switchgrass, sorghum corn and algae can be converted into fuel. Oct. 7 was 4-H Youth Science Day, but some California 4-H clubs and groups will conduct the experiment at their next meeting, according to the ANR news release.
The National 4-H organization used the science experiment announcement to also share information from a recent Tufts University study on the impact of 4-H involvement on youth.
The study determined that, compared to other youth, young people involved in 4-H are:- Nearly two times more likely to get better grades in school;
- Nearly two times more likely to plan to go to college;
- 41 percent less likely to engage in risky behaviors; and
- 25 percent more likely to positively contribute to their families and communities.
Overall, the study found that the advantages of 4-H participation include higher educational achievement and higher motivation for future education, the news release said. In addition, youth in 4-H are more civically active and make more community and civic contributions than youth in other out-of-school activities.
4-H stands for head, heart, hands and health.
The Weekend Pinnacle in San Benito County ran an article last week about the county's newest farm advisor, Maria de la Fuente. She began working from the county's Hollister office in March, but has been advising farmers and nursery operators in the Central Coast since 1996.
The article said de la Fuente is particularly interested in continuing her work on waste management.
"I feel very blessed to be able to accomplish research that helps through better use of resources by recycling," she was quoted in the story, "by using garbage or stuff that would be discarded. We are growing food from garbage."
The story gave de la Fuente the opportunity to describe UC Cooperative Extension's role as more than just a conduit of research information from UC campuses to farmers, nursery operators and home gardeners.
"When [researchers] find new things, we make it applicable to the field," she explained. "We try to see if it applies here, or modify it to the area. Each one has its own geographical features, and microclimate."
A community newspaper in Santa Barbara County ran a story about a surprise dinner for long-time 4-H program representative Zelda Hughes, who retired in July.
“I am so surprised. I can’t believe they went to all this trouble,” Hughes was quoted in the Santa Ynez Valley News.
Hughes has been involved with 4-H since she was 10. Once she had her own children, Hughes worked as a volunteer leader and eventually was hired by the UC Cooperative Extension program to facilitate paperwork and coordinate programs.
Going full circle, Hughes now rejoins the 4-H volunteer ranks.
The Ventura County 4-H program made a splash over the weekend with two front page feature stories in the Ventura County Star.
The article opened as almost a profile of UC Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development advisor Susan Gloeckler. It said Gloeckler teaches children, young adults and other teachers about the importance of farming and technological advances in the field.
“Farmers are scientists and businessmen, and like other fields, they also have to keep up with technology,” Gloeckler was quoted. “We also want children to have an appreciation for animals and understand how important it is to preserve and protect our land.”
The second story focused on a 4-H gardening workshop held at Port Hueneme Youth Center at Naval Base Ventura County, part of an initiative to create 4-H programs at U.S. military bases across the world.
“The whole idea to put 4-H in the military bases is so that when parents get transferred to another base, there will be another program the children can feel at home with,” Gloeckler was quoted.
These highly visible news stories are a testament to persistence in media relations. Ventura County Director Rose Hayden-Smith said the stories were the result of a month's work with reporter Marjorie Hernandez.
"The initial story was a somewhat negative take on the budget," Hayden-Smith said. "We were able to pitch these other things and mitigate the negative budget info. Susan did a superb job of explaining the diversity of the program, getting military 4-H and SET in, ag literacy, Master Gardeners, ag programs, etc. The Farm Bureau jumped in to talk about the importance of CE."
Is it mean to point out a glaring error in the first paragraph of the military feature? Alas, the editor in me cannot resist. The story says, "Randall Smalls smiled as he carefully cut slits in a small packet of potable soil and inserted a handful of seeds."
Of course, the writer must have meant "potting" soil, as "potable" means drinkable.
