Fairfax County youth are keepi
By lenahgeer
FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA., September 26, 2008 – Members of Fairfax County 4-H will join youth across the nation to raise awareness about environmental issues and initiate environmental projects that make a positive difference in their communities during National 4-H Week, Oct. 5-11. The theme for this year’s week is “Keeping It Green.”
“Virginia 4-H has always encouraged youth and adults to work together for positive change, a type of teamwork and leadership that National 4-H Week exemplifies,” said Cathy Sutphin, interim director of Virginia 4-H, the youth development service for Virginia Cooperative Extension (http://www.ext.vt.edu/). “This year, they will team up to inspire a green future.”
In Fairfax County, over 400 youth participate in a variety of 4-H programs, including nutrition, gardening, horse, dog, bee-keeping, livestock, and vet science projects. 4-H’ers also develop leadership and citizenship skills through community service projects and county-wide events such as public speaking contests. For information about Virginia 4-H and National 4-H Week activities in Fairfax County, contact Lenah Geer at lgeer@vt.edu or 703-324-5353.
National 4-H Week marks the beginning of the 4-H program’s 107th year of existence. 4-H originated from a need for basic agricultural education for youth, but today the program offers a comprehensive curriculum that covers science and technology, career and economic education, citizenship, communication and expressive arts, family sciences, and leadership.
As young environmental stewards, Virginia 4-H members learn to appreciate and understand nature through clubs and other activities that focus on wildlife, forestry, soils, plants, insects, and other topics. They embody the 4-H motto to “learn by doing” by protecting the environment and conserving natural resources.
More than 143,000 youth are enrolled in Virginia 4-H’s hands-on educational programs for youth ages 5 to 19. Camps throughout the commonwealth offer valuable life lessons to more than 17,000 youth in the 4-H program, and more than 17,000 adults and teens volunteer their time and energy to mentor and teach 4-H youth.
Extension brings the resources of Virginia’s land-grant universities, Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, to the people of the commonwealth. Through a system of on-campus specialists and locally based agents, it delivers education in the areas of agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, community viability, and 4-H youth development. With a network of faculty at two universities, 107 county and city offices, 13 agricultural research and Extension centers, and six 4-H educational centers, Virginia Cooperative Extension provides solutions to the problems facing Virginians today.
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