After yet another successful 4-H year in the Williams Lake district, registration has finally opened for 2025. 4-H is a youth development program that began in Canada in 1913. It is heavily rooted in agriculture, life skills, and personal development. From the cloverbud project where children aged six to eight learn about other projects in their province, to projects like beef or outdoor living for youth aged 9-21, there is something for everyone. 4-H is also an important program for providing youth with public speaking, critical and methodical thinking, patience, work ethic, and many other skills through their project work as well as general functions such as public speaking competitions.
Through involvement in the program, youth can earn high school credits, explore their passions, gain an appreciation for agriculture and where our food comes from, and attend provincial and national trips focused on things like personal development, agriculture, or career development. This is only a small number of the endless opportunities that are available through 4-H.
Children aged six to eight are eligible for the cloverbuds project. Juniors (ages nine to 13) and seniors (ages 14 to 21) are eligible for projects like foods, aquaculture, gardening, tractor, small engines, agroforestry, sheep, swine, horse, dog, poultry, dairy, honeybee, beef, and many more. Seniors can complete more advanced projects like junior leader (helping a leader facilitate a project), senior management (creating your own project within a pre-existing project), and self-determined (creating your own project).
In our district, the second largest in the province, we have numerous active clubs which cover areas all the way from Lone Butte to south of Kersley.
If you want to see us in action, watch for the dates of the 67th Annual Williams Lake and District 4-H Show and Sale to be announced for August of 2025. You can also check out the Williams Lake and District 4-H and 4-H British Columbia Facebook pages for important dates and events as well as photos taken at events.
If you are interested in this program as an adult, we are always looking for more screened volunteers and leaders. Volunteers help with things like public speaking competitions, chaperoning trips and camps, and administering workshops. Leaders often volunteer for a single project that they already have experience with where they help their members complete their projects from start to finish, carry out project evaluations, provide exams for members trying to obtain certificates, and organize the parts of shows specific to their project.
I, a 4-H BC Ambassador for the Central Interior Region, am going into my eighth year in 4-H and have experienced things like provincial communications finals, a national trip, and countless club and district activities and functions. I am confident in saying that joining 4-H is the most valuable decision that I have made in terms of positive effect on my future. The confidence, skills, connections, and titles/certifications that I have learned are unparalleled by any program that I have encountered.
For more information, visit www.4hbc.ca, or email me (4-H BC Ambassador) at jessabelle17@icloud.com. To enroll, visit 4-hbconline.ca.
I hope to see you all at functions in the 2025 4-H year!
