Community Corner

Letter to the Editor: 4-H Is Not Just About Chickens and Jam

4-H teen leader, Julien Levy, invites the public to an open house tonight at Fox School.

 

Dear Editor,

True or False? 4-H is all about geocaching, rocketry and . What about chickens, goats, duct tape, fishing, web design, or quilting? 

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Since we have an open house tonight, at the in Belmont, I figured that it might be a good time to let folks know a little about 4-H.

4-H clubs are youth-led organizations open to kids from 5 years old to 19 years old.

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When some people think about 4-H, they think that it's all about raising animals, or making jam for the San Mateo County Fair. I understand where that comes from, but it's not really a good description of what being a 4-H'er offers today.  

Back during the 1920s and 1930s, 4-H started as a way to try to get the latest farming and home management ideas out from the agriculture research universities and home economics labs into the hands of the farmers and their wives. 

While 4-H does have a great tradition of helping kids learn life skills in farming, cooking and sewing, it's not limited to these at all. I've actually spent only two years on an animal project. I learned about rabbits and had my own named Pace. But then I got allergic, so that was that.  

To me, 4-H has meant leathercrafting, archery, rocketry, GPS hiking, lots of cooking and handcrafting projects, public speaking projects and, of course, trees. And that's only the tip of the iceberg.

Every club is a little different. Projects reflect what families know or are interested in teaching to their club's 4H'ers.   Belmont 4-H has chickens, rabbits, a lot of craft, cooking, sewing and quilting projects together with rocketry, thanks to a NASA dad.  Fishing is a new addition this year that my brother is really excited about. 

San Carlos offers a lot of projects I can also take, like riflery, off-road biking, archery, duct tape and woodworking.  Project meetings generally happen once a month, in addition to the monthly general community meeting. Kids run the meetings and the club, helped by an adult community leader.  

My parents like the idea that we can do and learn things together if we want, or that it only costs $25 to $35 a year, depending on your club. My mom uses the example of a $250 eight-week sewing course as why you'd consider joining 4-H. 

Or, now that I'll be in high school soon, she mentions the scholarships that 4H offers to graduating seniors. I'm kind of interested in doing an international exchange with another 4H'er in another country, myself. 

4-H offers different chances to learn and grow, depending on what is your passion or spark.   Mine is planting trees.   I just finished an 18-month project where I raised money through grant proposals to be able to offer residents in the San Bruno neighborhood where the PG&E pipeline exploded new trees for their backyards. 

Actually, 4H helped me get the skills I need to do all the public speaking, grant writing, web management and working with city representatives, etc., that it took to pull it off. 

On Earth Day, 250 volunteers and I planted 52 ornamental and fruit trees in 41 Glenview neighborhood back yards.  And now I’m working with my 4H Million Trees team to build on the success we’ve had launching tree planting projects in Kenya by working with 4Hers in Liberia and Ghana.      

So that's more than you probably ever wanted to know about 4-H. Check it out for yourself!   Hope to see you at Fox School at 7pm tonight!

Julien Levy,

Reforesting San Bruno
Founder and Teen Leader
joalevy@gmail.com


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