PHOTOS OPPOSITE PAGE FROM TOP LEFT: The saying of the 4-H pledge at meetings is a tradition that has continued even as the youth development organization seeks out new audiences through shorter-format special interest or SPIN clubs; Barbara Stone, the head of Kansas 4-H Youth Development, sits with children participating in a SPIN club on health in Ogden; Grant County 4-H agent Mary Sullivan (left) assists Emma Bahl with making “pumpkin pie in a baggie” while Stephanie Castillo of K-State Research and Extension (far right) helps Jayden Gutierrez with the same task.
48% Male
YOUTH PARTICIPANTS GENDER
52% Female
As the 21st century dawned, state 4-H and foundation leaders watched as youth participation began a marked decline. “We were being challenged with changing norms, changing family structures and changing demographics,” says Gordon Hibbard, who recently retired as president of the Kansas 4-H Foundation, a not-for-profit organization independent of K-State Research and Extension that helps assist and maintain Kansas 4-H through private fundraising. “There is this out-migration in a large number of rural counties that are losing population.” Participation hit peak levels of 150,000-plus youths in the early 2000s, according to Kansas 4-H figures. Since 2004, an average of 76,000 children have participated in Kansas 4-H each year. In 2013, the figure was 65,206. School enrichment programs, which occur during school hours and support school curriculum, usually account for a little more than half of the participants. Enrollment in organized clubs, which are led by adults with a yearlong planned program, averaged between 22,000 and 28,000 members through the 1980s and ’90s. Since 2004, that number has hovered near 23,000 after peaking at 42,000 in 2002. In 2013, there were 20,420 youths in organized clubs. Aside from population changes and an ever-growing menu of youth programs to choose from, there’s no definitive reason behind the decline. As the traditional 4-H population was shrinking, organizers began thinking that they needed to bring 4-H to new audiences. That’s the objective of the Growing Kansas Leaders expansion grant pilot program, made possible by a donation from the Kansas 4-H Foundation.
19%
15%
19%
YOUTH PARTICIPANTS PLACE OF RESIDENCE
26%
21%
Central Cities of >50,000
19%
Farms
19%
Towns < 10,000 and Rural
26%
Towns/Cities 10,000-50,000 & Suburbs 21% Suburbs of Cities > 50,000
1904 Corn clubs and corn-growing contests are introduced in Hamilton County, Indiana.
15%
The foundation’s strategic planning committee led a capital campaign in the late 2000s, through which fundraisers identified a donor who wanted to contribute significantly to 4-H programming. Atkinson, meanwhile, had joined the first leadership class at the Kansas Leadership Center in 2008 to work not only on declining 4-H enrollment but also a decline in volunteerism. Atkinson thought that if volunteers didn’t feel obligated to stay with 4-H for life, they would be more likely to sign on for short-term involvement.
“An adult working with a young person on a meaningful project is how we do business,” Atkinson says. “If you have more volunteers, you can reach more kids, and the dominoes just start to fall, in theory.”
1905 The Nebraska Boys Agricultural Association and Nebraska Girls Domestic Science Association are formed.
11. 12. 21.
1906-1914 Clubs were started in nearly all states.
1911 The first full-time state club leader is appointed in Iowa. 4-leaf clover approved.