The 4-H program in Marion County continues to see success and growth.

4-H is a community of 6 million young people across the world who are learning how to live healthily, be leaders, become engaged in their communities, and use science and technology to make good decisions for their future. Head, Heart, Hands, and Health are the four H’s in 4-H, representing the values members work on through fun and engaging projects. Iowa 4-H Youth Development is the premier youth development program of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Providing research-based education to K-12 youth, Iowa 4-H builds upon more than a century of experience in positive youth development.

Marion County has 12 active 4-H clubs throughout the county, along with a number of clover kid groups for those who are younger than fourth grade. 4-H groups typically meet once a month and offer a wide variety of programming and opportunities throughout the year. A large part of 4-H is having the opportunity to bring exhibits to the Marion County Fair, but also learning about a wide variety of areas of interest. Marion County 4-H Youth Coordinator Ashtin Wells says there are multiple ways to finding the area club that is right for participants.

“The first step would definitely be to reach out to our extension office. Even on our website we have a flier that lists all of our clubs along with club leaders, and contact information. You can certainly reach out here and we can give you an overview of each club or you’re welcome to look at that and see what is in your community, and reach out to those club leaders to get a better idea of what that club specifically does. It also will list when those clubs will meet, so if there is a club that meets at a good time for your family, that could be a really good choice for you.”

For more information about 4-H in Marion County and a list of all of the active clubs you can do so by following this link. Hear more about Marion County 4-H from Ashtin Wells on today’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.