Karla Meikle, Extension Agent/4-H Youth Development

Dates to Remember:

February 6       4-H Livestock Judging, Dickinson

February 8       Coping Skills for Kids, 6:30pm via Zoom

February 8       Commodity Elections, 1:00pm New Salem

February 7       Morton County 4-H Archery, 4:00pm Nishu Bowmen

February 10     Morton County Advisory Council, 6:30pm via Zoom

February 11     Preparing Your Ranch for Drought Webinar, 1:00pm

February 12     Little I Livestock Judging Contest, NDSU Campus

February 14     Morton County 4-H Archery, 4:00pm Nishu Bowmen

February 18     Farm Safety Webinar, 11:00am via Zoom

February 21     Morton County 4-H Archery, 4:00pm Nishu Bowmen

February 22     Farm Bill Workshop, 1:00pm New Salem

I make it a goal to learn something new every day.  Since the Covid pandemic started back in March I have learned a lot.  Adjusting to a new schedule and not being able to work with large groups of youth is one of them, the other, is how important it is to remember that as a leader in the community, others are always watching.  If I don’t lead by example, how do I expect others to trust and learn from me? 

I’ll give you a great example of a lesson learned by some of my older 4-H members.  This past weekend they had an archery match outside of Mandan.  I saw pictures of everyone having a great time and also for the most part, wearing their face coverings appropriately.  The last match of the afternoon was the older members of 4-H and to my disappointment, not many of them were wearing their face coverings.  I challenged two of our 4-H members to look at it from the stand point of a younger 4-H member wanting to be just like them and modeling their behavior.  I told them that they need to remember that little eyes are always watching.  Now I don’t want to place them in a fish bowl, but the fact is if you are active in the community and involved in an organization that mentors youth, they are always watching you and taking your lead. 

So this is why Youth Adult Partnerships are important, it is the key ingredient for success in 4-H.

YAP is defined as: youth and adults working together in a positive, mutually respectful environment with the recognition that each group contributes unique strengths to the relationship. Volunteers must be willing to let go of some of the control and allow youth to join them at the table. Youth will value their experience more if they have a voice and believe that adults will value their opinion and ideas. Youth will be more likely to take ownership of the 4-H program if they have been actively involved in the development of the program.

Kids have great ideas. So do adults. Sometimes ideas work. Sometimes they don’t. That is a part of the learning process. It is okay for things to fail, provided everyone learns from the experience and makes a better choice next time! Too many times adults squash the ideas of kids because they think they know what is best for them or what the outcome will be. Sometimes adults are wrong! And that’s okay! The idea is for the youth and adults to grow together and to build a safe, positive learning environment for our 4-H members.

For more information, contact Karla Meikle, NDSU Extension 4-H Youth Development Morton County at 701-667-3340 or karla.meikle@ndsu.edu.