BATTLE MOUNTAIN - Lander County 4-H provides many opportunities for local youth to enrich their lives and meet new people, said Tonya McKenzie, 4-H/youth coordinator for UNR Cooperative Extension, who added that program has grown by 25 percent since she took over in April.
Her boss, Rod Davis, extension educator for Cooperative Extension, said he is pleased with her work and enthusiasm for the program.
"Cooperative Extension, and especially those of us here in Lander County, are especially pleased with the direction Tonya is taking the 4-H program here in Lander County," Davis said. "I'm pleased with her initiatives in volunteer leader training and her recruitment of new members and leaders into the program."
McKenzie said she works hard to spread the word about 4-H in the community. She often visits Jacob's Well Youth Center to talk to the kids about the program and pass out fliers.
"I like to be out in the public a lot promoting 4-H to the kids," she said. "It's a program I feel strongly about."
McKenzie's own children are involved in the program. Her son, Tyson, 17, has been in 4-H for seven years and her daughter, Trista, 12, has been in it for four years.
McKenzie said the program really helps to brings kids out of their shells and get them involved in the community.
"I love watching the youth grow in the program," she said. "I like watching them come in and they are scared and shy and not quite sure of where they belong and at the end of the year, they are go-getters, and the other thing I love about 4-H is we take everyone. No one is ever turned away."
The Lander County 4-H program accepts kids ages 5 - 19 and has four individual sections - Shooting Sports, Livestock (large and small animals), Crochet/Needlework and Lego-Robotics. Each group has regular meetings.
The number of youth in each program usually fluctuates, McKenzie said. Right now, the Shooting Sports program is on its October - December break since it is usually a slow time of year. Livestock, which is led by Rebecca
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Blanthorn, Lynda Thompson and Kristi Nelson, has 14 youths.
"Livestock has grown by leaps and bounds," McKenzie said. "It has doubled in size since last year."
Crochet/Needlework, which is led by Tammy Conner, has four members. Conner is also the main leader for Shooting Sports. The co-leader is Ron Huntington. Shooting Sports teachers must be state certified in the disciplines in which they teach, McKenzie said. Huntington is certified in all of the disciplines and Conner is certified in three. The two other state certified teachers are Mike Stamm and Casey Johnson.
Lego-Robotics, an in-depth program in which kids build robots out of Legos, currently has 44 youths of all ages. The program is part of the Austin Schools curriculum and a class at Battle Mountain High School also takes part. Each age group builds a different section of the project, which is an entire mine site this year because the theme is "Tribute to Mining."
The mine site will measure 8-feet by 4-feet and includes haul trucks and conveyor belts - anything that would be found at a mine site, McKenzie said. The Austin leader for Lego-Robotics is Alex Juvera and the Battle Mountain leaders are Jen and Jason Gillogley.
All of the leaders and teachers are volunteers, McKenzie said. She explained that the programs are started by people in the community that have certain talents and want to donate time. She said she is always recruiting additional leaders.
"It is a commitment," she said. "It takes time out of their life. Out of the kindness of their hearts they donate some of their time to our 4-H program. I am always looking for new leaders for new projects to start. "
The 4-H age groups are 5 - 8 for the Clover Buds, 9 - 10 for Juniors, 11 - 13 for Intermediates and 14 - 19 for Seniors.
McKenzie described 4-H as a youth development program that gives kids skills they can use their entire lives. All of the programs teach them record bookkeeping, public speaking, responsibility and team building.
"We are teaching life skills to kids doing projects they are enjoying doing," she said. "We teach them life skills to go along with that project. We have a lot of fun. It is a safe, non-judgmental atmosphere and I try to expand it beyond just our club projects."
The Lander County club is going to be taking part in the 4-H Fun Day with the Wolf Pack in which they will attend a football game at the University of Nevada, Reno, on Nov. 16 and be a part of the human tunnel. There is also an upcoming awards banquet to honor kids, volunteers and leaders.
Lander County 4-H has approximately 15 official volunteers who had to fill out paperwork and get fingerprinted.
"We want the youth as well as the parents to feel good here, knowing they are working with good people," McKenzie said.
The organization held an open house Oct. 12 behind the Cooperative Extension office to showcase animal pens they had rebuilt and a shed they had built as well as buildings they had fixed up. They also wanted to spread the word about 4-H.
The event consisted of a free lunch of hotdogs, chips and candy and games for kids and adults with prizes.
Approximately 16 4-H youths, volunteers and leaders and community volunteers attended the event which drew around 20 non-4-H members and their families. The 4-Hs stand for Head, Heart, Hands and Help. The club's motto is "To make the best better," and its slogan is "Learn by doing." The 4-H colors are green and white - green symbolizing springtime, life and youth and white symbolizing high ideals. The roots of 4-H began in the early 1900s as a nature study program for better agriculture education.
Today, as in the early 1900s, 4-H is an educational partnership between the federal government, the state land-grant university, county governments and volunteers.
Anyone who would like to volunteer for 4-H or become a leader or any youth who would like to join can stop by the Cooperative Extension office between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. for an application. The cost is $5 per year.
Those who would like more information can contact McKenzie at (775) 635-5565 or by email at mckenziet@unce.unr.edu or just stop by the office.
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