In a lot of ways Dale Farley is the typical teenager. He is a quiet,
almost shy mix of one-word answers and hair that always seems to be in
his eyes. He likes hanging out with friends, watching horror movies,
text messaging, listening to his iPod and driving.
But there's something different about this South Dakota teen. Something
you'd never guess unless you asked him about cows.
Dale is a cattleman, pure and simple. He's building his own top-notch
herd of Herefords, and he spends a lot of his free time in a cattle
barn. He begs his dad to let him miss school to go to cattle sales. It's
a passion that started with a heifer named Freddie and Dale's 4-H club in Union County.
"My grandpa's name was Dale too," he says, when asked about his family's
history with 4-H. "He raised Herefords, and he won Grand Champion at the
county fair here. I did too. So I felt pretty honored when that
happened."
Mom, Cynthia Farley, gushes a little bit when it comes to Dale and
daughter Abbey's successes in 4-H, as any mother would. She even calls
Dale a "cow whisperer" because of the unusually close relationship he
has with his show cattle.
She says both Dale and Abbey have been in 4-H since they were old enough
to participate. And she shares the tradition, having shown hogs when she
lived in California. So when Cynthia and husband, Dean, encouraged the
kids to join 4-H, they knew what was to be gained by the experience.
"Mostly I wanted them to have that experience of taking care of
something, of being responsible, of nurturing," Cynthia says. "We were
already raising breeding stock here on the farm so it was easy to do
that. And for Dale it's been so natural."
It's also the first step toward what may be a lifetime as a cattleman.
Dale's goal is to build his herd and rely on income from that as he
heads off to college. He hopes to have 15 head by then.
It's a dream that started about six years ago, when Dale talked his
parents into letting him take a loan to buy that first heifer—Freddie.
He paid that loan off by selling her calves. He still has Freddie, and
today he sells off every bull calf to buy more heifers.
This business plan requires recordkeeping and planning. And at 15 years
old, it's so second nature to Dale that he's miles ahead of the average
teen.
"We didn't want Dale to have to struggle like we did," says Cynthia. "We
really think getting started early is going to pay off. He has the
passion and the energy; we provide the support and the encouragement."
Dale Farley's story isn't all that unique when you look at the "learn by
doing" motto that has lit the way for 4-H for more than 100 years. The
program has adjusted and refocused a few times, but the goal has always
been to build up America's youth. And today you can find hundreds of
thousands of people whose lives have been changed by the head, the
heart, the hands and the health of this classic organization.
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These localized youth programs began as an offshoot of the
Cooperative
Extension's system of land grant universities and colleges. Extension's
early task was to improve life in rural areas, and in the early 1900s
that meant improving life on the farm.
While adults could be resistant to Extension's new ideas and research,
the youth were hungry for better ways to do things. So youth groups were
established as a way to get new knowledge into the countryside.
A.B. Graham, a school principal in Ohio, is credited with clubs that
laid the foundation for today's 4-H. He started promoting vocational
agriculture in clubs outside of school. These early groups included boys
and girls, and had a system of officers, projects, meetings and
recordkeeping.
Graham looked to the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station and Ohio State
University for help with the clubs and their projects.
4-H changed how Americans farmed, and even how they ate. While boys were
often involved in areas like ag science, girls learned how to preserve
food using techniques like canning. There were the victory gardens of
World War II, bond campaigns and civilian defense. If it impacted a
county where 4-H worked, the group addressed it.
By the 1940s 4-H had reached 1.6 million members. More than 76% of those
successfully completed their projects. Contests to reward the best of
the best became common across the countryside.
In the 1950s and '60s a demographic change began to alter how and where
Americans lived. Instead of going home to milk the cows after school,
many youth were living in cities. It could have been the death knell for
an organization born out of the countryside.
Instead, it was seen as a new opportunity. Leaders in 4-H continued to
expand, with an eye toward what youth in their areas needed. Special
interest groups became one of the fastest growing areas of 4-H.
Wes Strange has been on the front lines of 4-H's evolution since he was
a kid. Today the Missourian is a leader in the organization and a
20-year veteran vo-ag teacher at Cameron High School.
"When I was growing up I used dogs as my projects," says Wes. "Now I'm a
sheep leader in Davies County. I think what's made 4-H work all these
years is the wide variety of things kids can choose to do. There's
really something for every kid.
"Each individual can find that special area they're interested in and
excel in it. It's a safe place where kids get a chance to hone their
talents."
Not just a 4-H leader, Wes is a 4-H dad. He and daughter Maggie have
spent a lot of time showing sheep over the years. Maggie was just 7
years old when she joined 4-H, and today at 17 she's still working on
projects. Her pride in her 4-H achievements is easy to see at home.
"Maggie has won a lot of awards over the years," says Wes. "But the
three things that still set in prominent view in our home are the first
Pee Wee trophy she won, a showmanship trophy from the Clanton County
Fair, and a plaque for Grand Champion at the Davies County Fair."
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These days it's hard to catch Maggie. She's planning for college,
playing sports, working on a photography project—not to mention tending
a 32-ewe herd.
She is one of two Knee High Club Reporters at the Davies County 4-H
Club. Ask her about 4-H and she'll tell you it's taught her how to think
on her toes.
"Like today, I pulled a lamb by myself before school," she says. "It had
to be done and I was here. I'm more experienced and I've learned I can
handle things like that myself when they come up."
This type of self-confidence is something many
4-H participants and
leaders tell you exists. But there's more to it than anecdotal evidence.
Real data has been collected to back up what 4-Hers have always known:
There's a lot more to this than ribbons and county fairs.
Mary Arnold is a 4-H youth development specialist at Oregon State
University. She's completed a detailed study on how 4-H affects kids. "We know it gives kids a place to belong and helps them develop a sense of self-confidence. It also provides them a sense of community, where
everyone has a role to play.
"It's about developing the 5 C's—confidence, competence, connection,
caring and character. But until now we didn't have the research to
measure these benefits," says Arnold.
There were some surprises in the study. Arnold says they looked, for
example, at market animals projects. They suspected one of the main
motivators for kids in this project area was income from selling the
animal.
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| Today only about 8% of 4-H
members live on a farm. But because the organization has always been
community-based, changes in projects and membership have simply evolved and
reflected the world where 4-H finds itself.
President and chief executive officer of national 4-H Council Donald Floyd
says the core of this organization is built around the belief that every kid is
successful because they have a sense of mastery, belonging, independence and
generosity.
 "Research shows that when youth get the type of experiences 4-H provides,
they are more resilient as teens and more successful as adults." It's a message
Floyd wants to bring to more people over the next five years.
"Our goal is to double the number of youth in 4-H clubs," he says. "We're
going to use a variety of resources—volunteer recruiting, web access, a new
marketing plan—to reach that goal."
Currently, Floyd says, 1.7 million of 4-H's 6.5 million youth participate in
4-H clubs.
Development and growth will focus on projects in the areas of science
engineering, technology, citizenship and healthy living, none of which is really
new for 4-H. "Over 100 years ago we were all about ag science," says Floyd.
"Today we're looking not only at ag science but GPS, GIS, forensics, water
quality and environmental studies."
In many cases 4-H projects are taking place in areas where there's no
knowledge of the way 4-H used to be.
"I can show you a place in lower Manhattan where a 4-H hydroponics lab is
growing some of the best lettuce you'll taste," says Floyd.
"Simply put, we continue to be relevant because we adapt. We've served every
county in the country for over 100 years. We're not a one-size-fits-all group.
We take big ideas and make them relevant for individual communities. That's the
key to our survival and our success, and to our future growth." |
[PAGEBREAK]
"We've always thought animal marketing was about developing
recordkeeping and financial management skills. But if you ask those kids
what it's about, they rate these areas low in importance compared to
responsibility and cooperation."
One area not directly measured by Arnold's study is how 4-H involvement
affects the youth's family.
That's something the Farleys feel strongly about.Cynthia says their
family travels widely so Dale and Abbey can show cows. It's this time
together that creates a bond Cynthia feels helps them stay strong
through those tough teenage years.
"I don't really look at the financial cost," she says. "The four of us
together, that's everything for me. It's family time and friend time
when we're at a show. There's a lot of bonding that goes on when you're
in a barn together all day."
Dale says he especially looks forward to those shows.
"I'd rather be around cattle than anything," he says. "It's a good
family project too. It makes you feel close to your family."
That feeling of closeness doesn't erase a mile-wide competitive streak
between Dale and Abbey though.
"We're pretty competitive," admits Dale. That, his mom adds, is a big
understatement.
But Dale insists he does support and root for Abbey.
"I'd say 'good luck' to her ... unless we're competing in the same
class."
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|
When she looks out her window, Peggy Whitson no longer sees the familiar Iowa
countryside where she was raised. Instead it's the gentle curve of planet
Earth—bright greens, rich blues and wispy whites. She's 220 miles out of range
today, commanding the International Space Station.
This is a window seat it took Whitson 37 years to reach. She credits her
experience growing up on a farm and her years in 4-H with giving her the can-do
spirit that brought it all together.
 Whitson made her first trip into space in 2002, when she stayed for six months.
The skills she learned growing up came in handy when space station maintenance
was required.
"My dad, a farmer, always said you can fix just about anything with a 'number 2
wire and a pair of pliers.' It seemed to me like we were testing the limits of
his philosophy on this one," Whitson wrote in her online journal after a
particularly grueling repair.
Whitson's success doesn't surprise family friend Earl McAlexander. He grew up 5
miles from the Whitson farm and says the astronaut of today was always "very
inquisitive and interested in things dealing with nature."
That natural curiosity led Whitson to explore and develop her interests, says
mother, Beth Whitson. During her years in 4-H, Peggy learned to cook and sew,
showed cattle, raised chickens and participated in demonstrations. "We told her
she could do whatever she wanted," laughs her mother.
Peggy obviously believed it. At age 9, she remembers watching Neil Armstrong set
foot on the moon and thinking, "why not?" It was a big dream for a girl from the
tiny town of Beaconsfield, Iowa.
That little girl grew up and graduated with a double major in biology and
chemistry. She went on to get a Ph.D. in biochemistry. From there, she applied
for the astronaut-training program at NASA, but was turned down.
Her consolation prize was a biochemistry position with NASA, but she never
stopped aspiring to become an astronaut. For 10 years she applied. Then in
2002—more than a decade later—Whitson's dreams were realized.
After that first flight in 2002, Whitson didn't keep her feet on the ground for
long. In October 2007, she blasted back into orbit—and into history. This time
she would serve as the first female commander of the International Space
Station.
These days Whitson is something of a hometown hero. The Mt. Ayr, Iowa, newspaper
regularly prints excerpts from Whitson's NASA journal, and the school she
attended has a display devoted to its famous student.
"What's amazing," says friend McAlexander, "is just how ordinary Peggy makes her
job sound."
"I always tell kids to pick something they really like because they really need
to excel in it," Whitson said, addressing an Iowa group in 2003. "You need to
have fun along the way, whatever you choose to do in life."
—Claire Vath |