About two years ago now I was appointed by the City of Excelsior Springs to serve on the MU Extension Council for Clay County, Missouri. I was unaware of all the benefits the extension offices around the state have to offer the counties they represent and was excited to establish those programs into our community.
Just one of their many programs is 4-H, an organization that has been providing youth with hands-on education in their field of interest since it began more than 100 years ago. Last count membership was over 6 million nationwide. Seeing that Excelsior Springs on the Clay County side didn’t have a chapter, I worked to organize one.
Now our group has over 30 parents and students participating in our monthly meetings that are held at the Good Samaritan Center’s Great Hall every second Tuesday of the month at 7:00pm.
4-H is youth led, with the chapter choosing their youth leaders as a group and then using Roberts Rules of Order to run their meetings. They all choose a topic they wish to study, with hundreds to choose from. Project leaders, parents and other adults in the community, use curriculum that is provided or their own knowledge of the subject, to help guide groups through the learning process. Each youth member then has the opportunity to work on a project that they enter to be judged annually at the county fair. If they receive a purple ribbon, they are then accepted on to a state fair.
Mackenzie’s first fair!
The Excelsior Springs 4-H Group 🍀
Mackenzie going in to be judged!
Members only for judging!
An Excelsior Springs auction basket was submitted thanks to Club Member Alisha Jack.
We were real proud of Mackenzie. She got a blue ribbon for her Cat Care project!
