Metro Cluster

. . . the process of growing up and developing one's capacities in positive ways. Youth development organizations exist to promote the positive, healthy development of young people. 4-H is the oldest and largest publicly funded youth development organization in the United States of America. Each 4-H Club is encouraged to be creative and flexible to best meet the needs of the youth and families involved.

You are challenged to design your program and activities to include the following strengths which describe 4-H:

• learning by doing
• developing leadership skills
• making new friends
• giving back to the community
• building connections with others
• preparing, doing, sharing

The 4-H traditions of the symbol, motto, colors, and pledge remain constant. However, the 4-H club framework need not be constant. As society changes, 4-H adjusts and changes also to meet the needs of families today.

Symbol: The "four leaf clover" is the 4-H symbol. The four H's on the clover stand for HEAD, HEART, HANDS, and HEALTH.				Pledge: "I pledge: my head to clearer thinking; my heart to greater loyalty; my hands to larger service; my health to better living; for my family, my club, my community, my country, and my world."
Colors: Green and white are the 4-H colors. Green symbolizes natures most common color and repre- sents life, springtime, and youth. White symbolizes purity and bright ideals.			Motto: The 4-H motto is "To Make the Best Better", not only in building character and citizenship, but also in raising the standards of individual and club achievement.

Who Can Form a Club?

A club is a group of youth who come together in many different ways. Clubs utilize older youth, parents and caring adults as advisors and supporters to the youth in the clubs. Some examples include:

Who and Where

• Neighborhood Clubs - A group of youth/ families who live within the same neighborhood block(s).
• Community Clubs - A group of youth/families who live in the same or adjacent communities.
• Child Care Programs - Youth who attend the same day care or after school program and form a club at their site.
• ECFE Graduates - Families who have participated in ECFE classes and would like to continue meeting together.
• Project Clubs - Youth who want to learn about one specific project.
• Cloverbud Club-Families who live close together and have children in the 5- 7 age range.
• Community Service Club - Youth who want to concentrate on doing community service projects in their community, school, etc.
• Church Group - Families and youth who attend the same church.
• Home School Group - Families who educate their children at home.
• Computer On-Line Club - youth who form a club through computer on-line.
• Other - Any group of youth who want to come together to form a club.

Be Creative!

Size

• Five or more youth - 4-H clubs can form with as few as five youth or be as large as they choose to be. Larger clubs need to have systems in place to support all members.

Ages

• Age Span - 4-H membership is open to all youth, kindergarten to age 19.

  Examples:

  • Cross Age - 4-H membership includes youth of all ages.
  • Multiple Grade Groupings- Clubs can form around any age range within kindergarten to age 19, such as Cloverbud club, middle school, etc.

Think of all the Possibilities!

Example: A daycare provider worked with the local extension staff to set up a 4-H club within their after school daycare program. The daycare provider met every week with the youth involved and they made a project to exhibit at the county fair. In addition, they carried out fun, learning experiences around a variety of interests and projects at their club meetings.

Example: The horse project members in the county wanted more time to meet together as a group and carry out activities related to learning more about horses. They formed a project club which meets regularly and provides learning experiences and lots of fun activities for the members. Members of this club also participate in other projects, events and activities in the 4-H program on their own.

A 4-H club can operate in any way it decides as long as positive youth development is the foundation of theclub. Here are some ideas that may be appropriate for your group.

Time Frame

Clubs might meet daily, weekly, monthly, every other month, etc.
A club may be on-going for many years, meet just in the summer or just during the school year.
A club could even start based on a project or program to be completed and end when the project or program is done.

Rules

4-H club rules are meant to create structure and framework, not to limit positive youth development. Rules should only exist when they contribute to positive youth development.

Example: The Jolly Jokers 4-H Club has meetings once a month during the school year and twice a month in the summer. Youth leaders sign-up to plan and conduct one meeting each. Ten minutes is set aside at each meeting to conduct any business. Club activities include a visit to a nature center, construction of wooden reindeer for the elderly, a tour of the bank which includes a lesson on the time value of money, and more! All of this happens with less than two hours of business meeting time during the entire year.

Example: Twelve high school students formed a 4-H club solely around the idea of community service. At the beginning of the year the members decided upon six community service projects and assigned someone to plan each of them. Every other month the club gets together to "do" their project.

What does a 4-H leader look like?

Big ears for listening, a big heart for caring, busy hands for helping, and the wisdom to know when to talk, when to act, and when to watch.

A leader may wear many hats. He or she may be a mentor, a teacher, an advisor, a guide, a consultant, and a friend. Developing and building leadership in youth is essential to a healthy club. A very important role of adult leaders is to help older youth learn to work with other youth.

Leadership in 4-H clubs may take many forms. A 4-H club may have 1 to 100 active leaders. Leadership may be rotated, shared or joint. Clubs need to develop systems to handle all the leadership tasks and roles, and then evaluate those systems often and make changes when necessary.

Different leadership tasks abound in a club. It is beneficial to the club and to the leaders if the tasks can be spread out among several youth and adults. Some typical areas of responsibility might include:

Example: A team of three college students at a local college have started a club just for Cloverbuds. The three students are elementary education majors and are excited to receive some hands-on experience working as 4-H club leaders. The three leaders divide up the tasks to be handled and work with the members' parents to implement fun, educational activities for the 15 Coverbuds.

Example: In the Cool Canyon 4-H club, leadership is shared among all adults and youth leaders. A list is devised at the beginning of the 4-H year and each leader signs up for one area of responsibility. The leader then recruits parents and youth to help him or her. Areas of responsibility include monthly meetings, new families and promotion, liaison with the extension office and county meetings, project work, Cloverbuds, enrollment, county activities, etc.