4-H’ers adapt to the times

Kids and group leaders for 4-H have made adjustments to their normally busy season as concerns surrounding the coronavirus still loom.

In Washington and Jefferson counties, the ISU extension and outreach offices have been working to make sure the 4-H students still have fun. Per Iowa State and Iowa 4-H guidance the groups have not been meeting in-person since March, but have found other ways to connect and continue their learning.

Club size, internet accessibility, experience level and comfort levels all play a factor in what each individual club has decided to do. Some clubs in Washington have decided to hold Zoom meetings, others have relied on emails, phone chains and Facebook pages to get information to kids.

'Some have done a great job at some fun, creative things, just to give the 4-H'ers a time to still be connected,” said Amy Green, the Washington County 4-H and youth coordinator.

One club held a scavenger hunt around the community. The kids had to take pictures to get clues. Another club emailed a picture of a paper plate to the kids and they were able to decorate it any way the wanted to describe what they were doing or how things were going as a way to talk about what is happening in the nation.

Washington Clover Kids did Zoom bingo with their families during what would normally be their meeting times.

'That was just a fun way to interact and play games together and see each other,” Green said.

The Limecreek Livewires 4-H Club posted a video on Facebook where the students were on Zoom saying the 4-H pledge together.

We've all had to do a lot of learning in the last three months on how to use a computer to our advantage,” Green said. 'Whether that's making videos, or just communicating live.”

Annually this time of year the dog project and horse project members would start weekly workouts but those are currently on hold.

The dog project started in May with a private Facebook page where they have been posting private training videos of some of the older 4-H'ers and the dog superintendents doing demonstrations.

'It's been impressive to see and fun to see a lot of kids and clubs have been interacting through Facebook and posting pictures of what they're doing and what they're working on,” Green said.

In Jefferson County, the ISU extension is trying to keep 4-H as normal as possible while still following the guidelines. The kids have been encouraged to continue their project learning as normal hoping there will be opportunities for showcase in the future.

'There is still plenty of opportunity for growth even if they don't have a normal or typical fair,” said Rachel Fishel, the Jefferson County 4-H youth program specialist.

Typically in June Jefferson County has multiple day camps for the 4-H kids and other kids in the community. Instead, in June and July the ISU extension office will be offering 4-H on the go kits.

The kits will be sent each week of June and July, kids will be send bags with projects based on their age range.

Some of the project for the kindergarten through 3rd graders include decorating kindness rocks, a seed starter to plant flowers, vegetables and more, and creating summer paintings. For the 4th through 8th graders they can learn about cover crops the strength of soybeans and more.

There are four pickup locations for the kits - Lincoln Elementary, Fairfield Public Library, the extension office and Pilot Grove Savings Bank. There has been 93 kids registered for the program so far.

Washington County has decided to turn the 2020 fair into an exhibitor only with a modified schedule.

'The goal is to have as few people crossing paths and interacting as possible,” Green said. 'We're also making sure our judges are comfortable with the environment we are creating here.”

The non-livestock projects are being done similar to the Iowa State Fair where they will drop off their projects and judges will judge them. The students will then have a time schedule to pick up their projects, ribbons and comments.

The communication areas will be submitting YouTube videos for judging.

'That is a very new component as normally it would be live with an audience with a judge present in the room,” Green said.

The extension office has special help sheets they are going to send out to families who may not be as experienced with technology.

'The families know that this takes a lot of work, what we're doing, and they are really thankful that we are putting in that time to give the kids the opportunity to do this,” Green said.

Throughout June, the 4-H volunteers and club leaders will be doing some work to make sure when it comes time to meet face to face again to feel as comfortable as they can to host meetings and events.