Extension offices reach out to improve 4-H programs across the country
by Thomas Sullivan · July 23, 2008

It’s all about making the best better.

That’s the motto of the 4-H program and, with the state and county extension offices behind it, the goal throughout the year. During this year’s Muscatine County Fair, the extension offices of Iowa State University and Auburn University joined forces in order to come up with new ideas on how to improve their states’ 4-H programs. Betty Gottler, an agent from the Alabama university’s state extension office, visited West Liberty last week to observe the judging of the 4-H events and bring back a few of Iowa’s techniques for Alabama’s own judges.

“It just fascinated me how these judges are helping to teach these youth life skills for the future,” said Gottler. “What I have observed, they’re hopes for youth. They take a lot of care in judging them by telling them what they’re doing right or wrong. That’s something I hope to take back to Alabama and implement there.”

Unlike in Iowa, she explained, 4-H judging in Alabama is done before a panel of judges rather than a one-on-one interaction with the 4-H member. For the most part, participants are not advised on how they could improve in an event but are expected to learn outside of the competition. In addition, 4-H events and competitions are separate from the county or state fairs, judged within a different calendar schedule and arena. Fair projects that make it to the state level are displayed and judged at a state competition day in the spring, held at one of Alabama’s universities.

However, despite their differences, both programs still carried the ability to adapt to the times, Gottler noted.

“4-H is over a 100 years old but it still continues to meet the needs of its members,” she said. “We met needs 100 years ago with agriculture, now we’re meeting the needs into the next century with the new technology and projects that we’re seeing.”

As a 30-year extension agent for Marshall County, Ala. and former 4-H member herself, Gottler also noticed an expansion in the interests of the program’s members.

“Originally, 4-H members were more interested in starting purely agricultural clubs such as the corn or tomato club,” she stated. “Now members are becoming more concerned with much broader issues. During the fair, I saw expressive art projects, a presentation on fuel economy. That’s something people would never have thought of a 100 years ago.”

While the focus of Gottler’s trip was to improve Alabama’s 4-H program, she quickly pointed out a county’s extension office serves more than just the members of its local 4-H clubs.

“What our agency does is let its county’s residents know where you can go to get help in the area,” she said. “A day in the county office could anything from answering questions on agriculture or home economics or food safety to providing help starting a child development class or safety tips for babysitting.”

It took a lot of good teamwork, Gottler noted, to ensure that all questions and concerns within the county were answered well. The same spirit of teamwork, she added, was evident in her interactions with the volunteers and Iowa State Extension staff at the fair.

“I certainly appreciate all the folks from Muscatine County and what they’ve shown me,” she said.