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Elizabethtown, NC (October 6, 2020) — Every year, National 4-H Week sees millions of youth, parents, volunteers and alumni come together to celebrate the many positive youth development opportunities offered by 4-H. The theme for this year’s National 4-H Week, Opportunity4All, is a campaign that was created by National 4-H Council to rally support for Cooperative Extension’s 4-H program and identify solutions to eliminate the opportunity gap that affects 55 million kids across America.
With so many children struggling to reach their full potential, 4-H believes that young people, in partnership with adults, can play a key role in creating a more promising and equitable future for youth, families and communities across the country. In 4-H, we believe every child should have an equal opportunity to succeed. We believe every child should have the skills they need to make a difference in the world.
“We believe youth perspectives are so important and a solution to eliminating the opportunity gap, because young people come with new ideas and new ways of seeing the world,” explains Jennifer Sirangelo, President and CEO of National 4-H Council. By encouraging diverse voices and innovative actions, 4-H believes that solutions can be found to address the educational, economic and health issues that have created the opportunity gap.
Bladen County 4-H will observe National 4-H Week this year by highlighting some of the inspirational 4-H youth in our community who are working tirelessly to support each other and their communities.
At Monday night’s County Commissioner meeting, Chairman Ray Britt presented the official county proclamation to our own Luke Barber, current President of Bladen’s 4-H County Council. Additionally our local members will be joining 4-H friends from across the state for a virtual spirit week and nightly activities including a talent show, Awards night, and Closing Campfire. Details about these statewide events can be found here – https://nc4h.ces.ncsu.edu/2020/09/national-4-h-week-2020-opportunity4all/
“Eight years as your local 4-H Agent in Bladen County has truly flown by! This year has been different and our programs have transitioned to virtual delivery methods to meet the needs of our community. This week we are doing a virtual Ag’Em Up Days with third graders in partnership with our many great teachers. New opportunities for partnering and offering leadership, STEM, and healthy lifestyles are in place to help 4-H members grow and learn,” said Stacie Kinlaw, 4-H agent. “We continue to focus our programming efforts toward improving health and nutrition through education and opportunity and increasing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics for Bladen County’s youth as a strategy to prepare them for careers beyond high school. We expanded Juntos 4-H program in Bladen County with our Latino parents and youth to offer a middle school experience. Our program is filled with great opportunities for youth and I have great expectations for our success. In Bladen County we celebrate this year’s National 4-H theme, Opportunity 4 All year round”
In Bladen County more than 150 4-H youth, around 1500 other youth, and at least 100 volunteers from the community are involved in 4‑H. To find out what is going on in our local 4-H programs, please check us out on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BladenCounty4H or call or email our local 4-H agent at skinlaw@ncat.edu or (910) 862-4591.
One of the most anticipated events of National 4-H Week every year is the 4-H STEM Challenge, formerly known as National Youth Science Day. The theme of this year’s event, which is expected to see hundreds of thousands of youth across the nation taking part throughout October, is Mars Base Camp. Developed by Google and Virginia Cooperative Extension, Mars Base Camp is a collection of activities that teaches kids ages 8-14 STEM skills, including mechanical engineering, physics, computer science and agriculture.
To learn more about how you can get involved, visit http://www.4-h.org/.
About 4-H
4-H, the nation’s largest youth development and empowerment organization, cultivates confident kids who tackle the issues that matter most in their communities right now. In the United States, 4-H programs empower six million young people through the 110 land-grant universities and Cooperative Extension in more than 3,000 local offices serving every county and parish in the country. Outside the United States, independent, country-led 4-H organizations empower one million young people in more than 50 countries. National 4-H Council is the private sector, non-profit partner of the Cooperative Extension System and 4-H National Headquarters located at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Learn more about 4-H at www.4-H.org, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/4-H and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/4H.
Related article:
https://bladencounty.org/county-commissioners-hear-encouraging-news-about-hurricane-matthew-assistance/
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