Pa. 4-H'ers Travel To National Center For Weekend OF Sharii
BY SALLY BAIR
Lancaster County Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D.C. - For 125
Pennsylvania 4-H’ers and leaders,
“Washington Farms” at the
National 4-H Center in
Washington, D.C., provided insight
into the opportunities in the 4-H
program and some concrete ad
vice in putting leadership into
action. It was a perfect prelude to
Pennsylvania 4-H Week which
begins Monday, March 16.
Roxanne Price, 4-H agent in
York County, explained that one
reason the southeastern region
organizes the event is to “get
leaders and teens away freon their
local dub situation and see the
resources that are available. It is a
renewal, a sharing.”
This year 12 counties from
throughout the state sent young
people to participate in the Friday
to Sunday event, which has been
held every two years for the past
eight years. Roxanne says, “For
many it is the first time they have
come to the Center. It is a new
experience and it makes them
aware of the opportunities the
National 4-H Center has to offer.
We try to have a happy medium of
socialization between the counties
and leadership development.”
Indeed, the weekend seemed to
offer a composite of everything a 4-
H event should be fun,
educational, fellowship,
recreation.
The most popular session of the
weekend proved to be a workshop
presented by Dorothy Emerson, a
94-year-old former Maryland state
4-H leader, who inspired the young
people to have confidence to stand
before a group. Exhorting them to
speak unafraid, Emerson said,
“Think of what you are saying, not
of how you look or who you are.
What you say right now is right for
you.”
Using signs with maxims such as
'After School Kids' Program Takes On 4-H Nutrition Project
BY SUZANNE KEENE
LITITZ - When Bertha Ford
walked into Kissel Hill Elementary
School with a bag of potato chips
peeking from the top of her
grocery bag, the kids in the after
school program there feared she
had lost her mind.
One of the youngsters walked up
to me and whispered, “Has Mrs.
Ford lost her mind?” recalls
Maryann Richards, director of the
after school program at Kissel Hill
Elementary.
To the 15 kids in the program,
Bertha ‘Bert’ Ford is “Mrs.
Nutrition.’’ A nutrition aide with
the Penn State Extension Service
in Lancaster County, Bert visits
the school once a month to teach
the children nutrition basics.
As the youngster’s comment
illustrates, Bert’s message is
making an impression on the
young minds. The potato chips in
the shopping bag were one of
several items she included in a test
designed to measure the success of
her nutrition campaign.
Students were told to select four
nutritious items one from each
of the food groups from an array
that included cookies, candy, and
an assortment of nutritious snacks.
The response was overwhelming,
Bert reports. All but two of the
youngsters selected nutritious
foods over junk food. And, the two
boys who opted for the sweets
confessed they selected the candy
only because they thought they
would get to eat their selections.
“They wanted to make sure they
got cookies and candy,” Bert said
with a good-natured grin.
' wo years ago she was invited to
■ipate in the after school
urn by Lester Rudisill, pastor
v ie Luthem Church in Ephrata.
Reverend Rudisill started the
After School Kids or ASK program
Bergstrasse Elementary as an
“Talk Less and Say More,”
“Speak Up,” “Mistakes are
Learning Experiences,” and
“Next Time I’ll Do Better,”
Emerson got the shyest of the 4-
H’ers to live through the ex
perience of speaking into a
microphone to a group of peers.
In a remarkable cross
generational understanding,
Emerson challenged, cajoled,
encouraged and aided the children.
She taught the group such simple
but effective public speaking
techniques as repeating a question
that is asked before answeringit.
She explained, “It enhances you
and makes you talk longer with the
answer.”
Emerson has been conducting
workshops at 4-H citizenship
events for dozens of years. When
she encouraged the 4-H’ers to ask
questions of her, she was asked
how many children she has. Her
reply, “I have thousands of
children,” in reference to the
thousands of 4-H’ers who have
passed through the National 4-H
Center and whose lives she has
influenced. When asked to be frank
about what they thought when they
first saw her, the teens expressed
amazement that someone so old
should be on the program. They
also quickly pointed out how much
they had learned from her.
Darby Miller, York County,
summed up the feelings of many
when she said, “Dot made you
think about what you’re talking
about, not what everyone else is
thinking.” Amy Bowman, Dauphin
County, agreed that Emerson’s
workshop was effective, saying,
“She taught us that our opinion is
as important as everyone else’s
is.”
Another popular speaker was
Captain Jack Fellows, a Vietnam
veteran who spent seven years in a
North Vietnamese Prisoner of War
alternative activity for young
children who normally return to an
empty house after school. Kids
participating in the program range
in age from five to about 10 or 11.
The program begins when school
is dismissed and children stay until
their parents have finished work
and come to pick them up. Some
stay only a short time, while others
remain until 5:30 p.m.
Similar programs have taken
root in three other area elemen
tary schools Lititz Elementary,
John Beck Elementary and Kissel
Hill Elementary. Next year,
several more elementary schools
in the Ephrata area will par
ticipate.
Without a second thought, Bert
immediately accepted the
Reverend’s invitation to share her
nutrition knowledge with the
youngsters. It was only after she
had met the kids that she thought
of forming a 4-H club with the
group. Using the 4-H foods project
book, Bert set out to familiarize the
students with the four food groups.
Her mission, she said, is to
provide them with the knowledge
they will need to make wise
selections when they become
responsible for meeting their own
nutritional needs. To accomplish
that goal, she tries to make lear
ning fun and not too much like
school, she said.
During her monthly sessions
with each of the four 4-H clubs, she
spends a few minutes on a lesson in
the project book. It usually takes
two meetings to get through a
single lesson and an entire year to
complete the project.
Following the formal learning
time, Bert helps the kids prepare a
simple, nutritious snack. Favorites
they have tried include ice cream
in a can, cheese popcorn,
milkshakes, bugs on a log (peanut
butter and raisins on cdldry) and
c mm
These 4-H’ers from Adams County relax on the steps of the National 4-H Center in
Washington, D.C. during a break in workshop sessions. From left are: Kathy Grim,
Karen King, Kristi Mummert and Mitch Reaver. They were part of a group of 125
Pennsylvania teens and leaders who participated in “Washington Weekend,” learning
about 4-H opportunities and practicing their leadership skills
camp. His patriotic speech opinions to their elected officials,
enlightened this generation of Leaders in their respective
teenagers about the horrors of war counties, the teens and adults
and prison camp while reminding attended workshops which ranged
them of the precious freedom they from filling out “blue forms,” to
enjoy as Americans. When they using videos, to learning about
wer given an American flag at the various judging techniques, to
conclusion of the weekend, it working with other leaders to keep
struck a responsive and receptive the 4-H program healthy
dhord. Speaking to teens and leaders,
One workshop, led by former 4- Mary Grim from Adams County
H’er Jody Day, gave the 4-H’ers an encouraged them to be willing to
informal lesson on the process of serve on committees and to ex
passing a bill in the Congress. Hill, press their opinions when
legislative assistant to Senator programs or projects are not up to
Richard Lugar, Indiana, explained expectations. She told the groups
how the system works, and had of leaders and teens, “You can
each group choose a bill they would make a difference.”
like to pass. Increasing the Wendy Debnam, York County,
minimum speed limit, lowering the said the weekend experience
drinking age, increased health taught her, “Don’t be afraid of
benefits for senior citizens and anything.” Her mother, a 4-H
increased price supports for the leader, said she thought the con
dairy industry were some that ference was useful, because of the
were considered. Hill also ex- opportunity for 4-H’ers to share
plained to the groups how to have learning experiences. “It is nice to
their voice heard in expressing be in the nation’s capital because it
Bertha ‘Bert’ Ford, a nutrition aide with the Penn State Extension Service, displays an
oversized pillow ASK students gave her at the end of last year's program.
St X^™aWMto e the students the salt shaker on the table She encourages them to join a -
When speaking to the students, anymore , h club in the summer when the
S S °^ e^coS to fact kth FS Pro g r am director Maryann ASK program is in recess. “We
with an incorrect fact. For Richards noted that her four-year- just want them all to be able to join
In T %SSSf £! ■>“. atteniisK ySJ. in a 4-H group in the summer.”
nutrients in a milkshake, she questioned the absence of two The ASK program is just a small
pomted out the quantity of vitamin Vegetables at dinner one evenhTg part of Bert’s job as a nutrition
C included in the beverage. The «j feel real about aide. Through the Expanded Foods
students qmckly corrected her, understanding the four food and Nutrition Education Program,
her that the milkshake groups,” she noted. she works with youth and low
nSf^n°rUrCe ’ 0t Nutrition knowledge isn’t the income families to help them
° “Ttartnw that t’m M tti„ o thrm.oh byproduct of the 4-H sessions, improve their diets and to make
I know that I m getting through youngsters also leam the 4-H better use of their resources,
wittsomethmg, shesays. pledge and 4-H songs. In addition, And, although she enjoys all
‘ he y lear " thf value of aspects of her job, the time sh
the After School Kids are cooperation, community in- spends with the children is the
becoming more conscious of good vol Vement, manners and most pleasurable. “They just M
cleanliness, Bert noted. your spirits.” she says.
K <
gives them a sense of patriotism
and of importance.”
For Donna Romita, a two year
horse club leader from Adams
County, the experience showed her
“what a nice place the National 4-
H Center is, and that it is not just
for 4-H, but for their families and'
other activities.”
Other highlights for the teens
and leaders were a visit to a dinner
theatre, a first for most of them,;
and the opportunity to worship at
the National Cathedral in';
Washington.
The Weekend experience was a
unique opportunity for learning 1
about 4-H in the nation’s capital at <
the hub of 4-H activities on a !
national level. With Pennsylvania
4-H Week beginning Monday, it :
was an exceptional opportunity for
teens and their leaders to
the enthusiasm which will take
them through a new and busy 4-Hi
season. I