Allamakee County Youth celebrating National 4-H Week October 6-12

More than six million young people across the country this week will be celebrating National 4-H Week, which takes place annually during the first full week of October.
Allamakee County 4-H leverages National 4-H Week to celebrate the great things that the 4-H youth development program offers young people. The week highlights the 4-H youth who each day work to a make a positive impact on their community.
What does today’s 4-H offer youth in both rural and urban settings? Through hands-on experiences, youth in Kindergarten through 12th grades are supporting the National 4-H Priority areas of Healthy Living, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Citizenship and Leadership, and Communications and the Arts. Youth are offered programming in Allamakee County through Afterschool Programs, Camps, Community Clubs, Independent Membership, Clover Kids (K-3 grade), Events, and School (4-H Food & Fitness Initiative).
Research has proven that participation in 4-H has a significant positive impact on young people. Recent findings from the Tufts University 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development indicate that, when compared to their peers, young people in 4-H are:
• Nearly four times more likely to contribute to their communities
• Two times more likely to pursue healthy behaviors
• Two times more likely to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs in out-of-school time.
Last year in Allamakee County, more than 300 4-H members and 50 volunteers were involved in 4 H. Youth and volunteers learned new skills, gave back to their communities, attended workshops and conferences, gave presentations, made new friends and had fun through hands-on experiences in areas of: Animals, Creative Arts, Agriculture & Natural Resources, Family & Consumer Sciences, Personal Development, and STEM.
4-H, the largest youth development organization in the world, is a community of seven million young people across the globe learning leadership, citizenship and life skills. In the U.S., 4-H programs are implemented by the 109 land grant universities and the Cooperative Extension System through their 3,100 local Extension offices across the country. Overseas, 4-H programs operate throughout more than 50 countries.
Learn more about Allamakee County 4-H by contacting Leah Lechtenberg or Sue Pederson, Allamakee County 4-H Youth Co-Coordinators, at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach at 563-568-6345, or on the web at www.extension.iastate.edu/allamakee or Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Allamakee-County-4-H.