North Dakota 4-H members are joining 4-H’ers across the U.S. in celebrating National 4-H Week, Oct. 7-13.

“National 4-H Week is a time to recognize the youth who have made an impact in their community and are stepping up to meet the challenges of a complex and changing world,” says Brad Cogdill, chair of the North Dakota State University Extension Service’s Center for 4-H Youth Development.

4-H is being recognized on the state level as well. North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple has signed a proclamation declaring that Oct. 7-13 is 4-H Week in the state.

On Oct. 10, 4-H National Youth Science Day, hundreds of thousands of 4-H’ers from North Dakota and the rest of the nation also will be involved in a single, innovative experiment. The national 4-H organization launched the science day program in 2008 as part of a massive effort to help build America’s workforce in science, engineering and technology.

This year’s experiment, the 4-H Eco-Bot Challenge, lets youth explore how robots can be used to preserve and protect the environment while giving the youth a glimpse into the future of science, technology, engineering and math.

During 2011-12, 24,804 youth participated in 4-H programming in North Dakota. By program type, that included (the numbers add up to more than 24,804 because some youth participated in more than one type of program):

• 5,216 members of organized 4-H clubs
• 11,855 youth who participated in 4-H special-interest or short-term programs
• 494 youth who participated in the 4-H overnight camping programs
• 13,032 youth who participated in school enrichment programs

In addition, 2,812 adults and 160 youth were involved in 4-H programming as volunteers in 2011-12.

Youth in 32 North Dakota counties will be involved in this year’s 4-H National Youth Science Day experiment through 4-H clubs, classrooms and after-school programs.

Nationwide, 6 million youth are members of 4-H, where they are learning leadership, citizenship and life skills. For more information, visit http://www.ndsu.edu/4h/.

NDSU Agriculture Communication - Oct. 2, 2012