National Collegiate 4-H
       
   

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

WVU Collegiate 4-H Club named national club of the year

The Collegiate 4-H Club at West Virginia University was named the National Collegiate 4-H Club of the year when 4-H representatives from colleges throughout the United States gathered in Columbus , Ohio , recently for their national conference.

Claire Brown, the WVU 4-H club president and a business management senior from Weston, accepted the national award on behalf of the 64-member WVU student organization.

During the past year, members conducted more than 55 service, leadership and social activities to benefit the WVU campus, the Morgantown community and the state.

Among them– a WVU Collegiate 4-H Host Weekend and WVU Relay for Life.

In February 2005, 22 high school-age 4-H’ers from across West Virginia visited Morgantown to learn more about WVU. The club organized and staffed a weekend that included touring WVU facilities, questioning a panel of WVU students, attending a WVU women’s basketball game and participating in WVUp All Night in the student union.

Last spring, 16 members of the club participated in continuous walking at the Relay for Life event, raising more than $15,000 in donations and pledges for the American Cancer Society.

4-H is the nation’s largest youth development program, involving nearly 7 million youths, 640,000 volunteer leaders and 105 state land-grant universities.

The WVU Extension Service operates West Virginia ‘s 4-H program through local county offices in each of the state’s 55 counties.

Brent Clark, WVU Extension agent for 4-H Youth Development in Harrison County, is the WVU Collegiate 4-H Club’s adviser. He praised the club members for their outstanding contributions and for realizing this "great honor for our University and for our Extension Service."

The 4-H club members also received accolades from Dr. Larry Cote, associate provost for WVU Extension and Public Service.

"We are particularly proud of their commitment to helping younger 4-H members," Cote said. "Their dedication shows in their club’s role as host to high school students during the annual WVU 4-H weekend. The members’ individual commitment shines bright during the summer when they serve as volunteer camping assistants at county camps throughout the state."

4-H is described as a community of young people across America who are learning–and modeling–leadership, citizenship and life skills.

Through clubs, special interest groups, camps, after-school programs and individual learn-by-doing projects, WVU 4-H reaches about one out of every five youths in West Virginia between the ages of 9 and 19. The 56,000 youths are supported by more than 7,200 adult volunteers who serve as mentors.

For more details about WVU’s county-based 4-H program opportunities, visit http://www.wvu.edu/~exten/ For more information about the WVU Collegiate 4-H Club, check out http://www.wvu.edu/~wvu4h/


This article was written by Ann Bailey Berry of the West Virginia University News and Information Services. The news release may be read at http://www.nis.wvu.edu/2006/4h_club_honor.htm

Labels: