USU Extension 4-H Youth Celebrate National 4-H Week

USU Extension Press Release

Utah State University Extension 4-H youth from across the state celebrated National 4-H Week, Oct. 4-10, with a variety of positive youth activities and opportunities.

This year’s theme, Opportunity4All, was created by the National 4-H Council to rally support for 4-H programs across the country and identify solutions to eliminate the opportunity gap that affects 55 million youth across America.

The 4-H program is the nation’s largest youth development and empowerment organization. With activities focused on STEM, agriculture, civic engagement, healthy living and more, 4-H members learn by doing and tackle the issues that matter most in their communities.

“If there is anything we as adults have learned from working with our amazing 4-Hers, it’s that youth input is essential to finding solutions to our community issues,” said Megan Hendrickson, state 4-H program coordinator. “When given the right tools from their leaders, these kids truly make a difference. We are excited to celebrate our 4-H program and our youth this week.”

The 4-H program is dedicated to providing activities for Utah youth, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. USU Extension 4-H leaders have hosted virtual camps, virtual scavenger hunts and even virtual horse program contests to allow 4-H youth to continue developing skills while remaining socially distant.

The 4-H STEM Challenge, an event held every year during National 4-H week, is another chance for 4-H youth to learn something new. This year’s challenge, Mars Base Camp, is a collection of activities that teach kids ages eight to 14 relevant STEM skills that could be used on Mars, including mechanical engineering, physics, computer science and agriculture.

“We believe youth perspectives are so important and a solution to eliminating the opportunity gap because young people come with new ideas and new ways of seeing the world,” said Jennifer Sirangelo, president and CEO of the National 4-H Council.

To learn more about USU Extension 4-H opportunities, visit https://extension.usu.edu/utah4h.