March Madness stood true for 4-H!
With deadline for fair exhibition being March 15, we had right at 500 youth enroll throughout the county. Clubs got started right away, meeting and doing community service projects.
Our 4-H counselors went to Counselor College to begin their training to offer awesome camping opportunities this summer.
This year’s livestock judging team competed for the first time at the Ohio Beef Expo in Columbus.
We’ve also been welcomed into the Symmes Valley Elementary’s after-school, giving youth the chance to experience Apple’s Coding through our Ohio 4-H Clovers Code grant.
Many of our livestock youth have checked-off their Quality Assurance training this month, meaning they are preparing to offer quality to their consumers who purchase their animals at the county fair.
Also, our Dog Obedience youth kicked off their trainings this month and our Shooting Sports program is meeting almost weekly to allow youth to get their hours on the range completed.
So as I was saying, March Madness, it’s real in 4-H, too!
Recently, in an Equistep training for youth with horses, the speaker shared a segment on respecting the game. She defined respect for the game in four pieces:
1. respecting and following the rules.
2. always trying one’s best.
3. skills and training progression
4. appreciation for the process.
In 4-H appreciation for the process, is 4-H youth development. We’re in the business to allow youth the opportunity to thrive.
I know for us, it makes months, like March, very busy. But our office staff and volunteers use these projects and learning experiences to help positively develop our youth.
Whether you are a family involved in 4-H, or not, maybe your youth are involved in softball, baseball, track, soccer or another one of the many youth development opportunities offered in the spring, we encourage you to understand your brand and respect your game.
The youth involved in 4-H are doing great things, learning new skills and “understand the brand” as are so many of our youth in Lawrence County.

Rachael Fraley is the OSU Extension Educator for Lawrence County. She can be reached at Fraley.171@osu.edu.