County Youth Councils Provide Leadership

The County 4-H Youth Council serves as the youth voice and advisers to each county 4-H team. Each county’s team represents a cross section of active youth between the ages of 10-18, who have at least one year of 4-H experience. Each county’s 4-H Youth Council provides opportunities to develop enhanced citizenship and leadership skills, serve as local 4-H ambassadors, function as youth-client adviser and model 4-H programming with their peers. These students gain additional citizenship and leadership skills by attending and participating in the 4-H Youth Leadership Conference, 4-H Midwinter Retreat, State 4-H Ambassadors and other leadership and citizenship events. They also help to create the annual county 4-H plan-of-work.

This article will spotlight 4-H County Youth Councils from six different counties, and one Area 4-H Council representing the Wiregrass region.

Marshall County’s 4-H Youth Council has 25 members who complete numerous community service projects throughout the year. They participate in local parades, volunteer time at local nursing homes, animal shelters and children’s hospitals, all while building a sense of teamwork and accountability with each other. They instill hope in the future generation to all who get the opportunity to meet and/or work with them. Breanna Black, a Youth Council member, stated, “Not only has 4-H Youth Council helped me grow as a leader and as a person, but it has also helped me have more compassion toward others through the many community projects we do.”

Since 2015, the Marengo County 4-H Youth Council has brought 10th-12th grade youth together from public, private and home-school settings to promote unity, community service, workforce development and life skill development. Leadership skills are enhanced through community service projects, such as Rooster Day and Pepper Jelly Festival. The highlight of each year is the Christmas outreach to the Marengo Nursing Home, where members deliver handmade gifts and sing Christmas carols to residents. The year ends with a field trip to places such as Demopolis Lock and Dam, Marengo County Courthouse, Hyundai Manufacturing and the University of West Alabama. This youth council experience has opened doors for two of our members to receive the 4-H Foundation Scholarships.

The Fayette County 4-H Youth Leadership Council is made up of 27 youth. The County 4-H Youth Council does two service projects each school year, attends leadership retreats, participates in competitive events and promotes 4-H through attending area community events, such as The Arts Festival and Frog Level Festival. Council members are ambassadors at their schools where they are responsible for the promotion of school 4-H events. They also plan and teach educational sessions during day camps for local school summer programs. On Veterans Day 2019, council members collected and delivered personal comfort items to 40 patients at the Tuscaloosa Veterans Administration Community Living Center, 10 resident veterans at Morningview Estates in Fayette and several community member veterans. In the spring, Youth Council members collected dog and cat foods and cat litter for the Fayette Animal Shelter. The Fayette County 4-H Youth Council is privileged to have one of its members serving as an Alabama 4-H State Ambassador.

The Jefferson County 4-H Youth Advisory Council is a diverse group of youth that represent their local 4-H clubs in a leadership role at the county level. Council members are charged each year with assisting 4-H staff and volunteers in planning and facilitating countywide programs, events, competitions and community service projects. The youth council meets several times a year to participate in leadership skill building and planning. Each year the youth council sponsors a community service project such as raising funds to purchase red wagons for the local children’s hospital and collecting supplies for natural disaster victims.

Tallapoosa County 4-H Council is a group of young people, ranging from fifth to 12th grades. They participate in community service projects such as the Lake Martin “Renew Our Rivers” Cleanup Day each fall. Just in the past two years, the group has cleaned up more than 1,000 pounds of garbage from the shores of Lake Martin and local rivers. The Tallapoosa County 4-H Youth Council also helps with fundraising efforts. The group explores different career and schooling options on field trips, like the one to Auburn University’s Charles C. Miller Jr. Poultry Research and Education Center. While helping the local community, the Tallapoosa County 4-H Youth Council has gained leadership experiences that will help them become future leaders of the county.

4-H is going strong in Alabama! In the Wiregrass region (Southeast Alabama), youth leaders are practicing the essential elements of 4-H (the BIGM – belonging, independence, generosity and mastery) with area children and adults. 4-H Club officers, along with Council and the Wiregrass 4-H Ambassadors, not only enjoy the fun of participation but they are integral in helping 4-H and Extension staff and also volunteers “plan and man” events and activities such as the annual 4-H Youth Leadership Workshop, the annual regional 4-H Awards Jamboree, regional competitions at Troy University, special events like the Wildlife Expo and spring and fall Farm Days at Landmark Park (Alabama’s Agricultural Museum), 4-H booth and exhibits at the National Peanut Festival, multiple community service activities and much more.

The Wiregrass 4-H Ambassador program began in 2016 and is designed to grow individual confidence, decision-making and communications skills to be practiced and mastered at the county level and beyond. Ambassadors are required to also be an active member of their county’s 4-H Council. Applications are accepted each year from youth in the following Wiregrass counties: Houston, Henry, Dale, Geneva, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Pike and Barbour.

The Clarke County 4-H Youth Council is comprised of 25 youth interested in participating in citizenship and leadership activities. Each year, the Youth Council partners with the Regional Child Advocacy Center to display over 246 pinwheels in front of the Clarke County Courthouse for Child Abuse Prevention Month. In addition, these students collect supplies and snacks for the center. The Youth Council also collects and donates supplies and food to the Clarke County Animal Shelter. This year, the council painted pictures, donated canned food items and planted flowers to be distributed to local hospice patients. In March, the Youth Council learned the importance of the census and how they could encourage community members to be counted.

Front Row (L to R): Myles Locklar, Atia Smith, Naomi Huckabee Back Row (L to R): Amiah Hicks, Ronderick Irby, Luke Stephens, Chloi Barganier, John Daniel Fleming, Christopher Welch, Tamia Turner, Tyanena Hill