A Saturday Filled with Fun and Learning for Area Youth

Lincoln County 4-H hosted there second Project Discovery Day for 2009 recently in Merrill.  Project Discovery Day is a day for 4-H and other community youth to learn new skills and have fun exploring the many opportunities the 4-H program in Lincoln County offers.  Eighteen adult and youth instructors from the area shared their knowledge with 44 youth and 7 adults during the annual Project Discovery Day held on March 21st at the Lincoln County Service Center in Merrill.  Topics covered a wide variety of subjects including weaving a basket, creating jewelry, learning about photography, needle point on plastic canvas, making a dust pan and wooden box, learning about the care of chickens, building a wooden rubber band race car, learning about attracting and feeding birds, building a model airplane and learning the art of liquid embroidery as youth created their own unique canvas tote bag.

This event sponsored annually by the Lincoln County 4-H Leaders’ Association Inc. and UW-Extension 4-H Youth Development were again a great success as young people moved from session to session learning new skills and creating items.  Youth took a quick break to catch their breath, eat lunch or a snack, and make new friends during the short time in-between sessions.  The adult and older youth instructors that day learned as much as their students about organization, teaching methods, keeping calm in chaotic situations, and keeping their students excited about learning.  Project Discovery Day is a great example of the life skills such as decision making, problem solving, communication, teamwork that youth are learning through their 4-H projects and other opportunities..

This event along with the 4-H program is open to all youth in grade Kindergarten through 13 (one year after high school graduation), regardless of where you live.  Becoming a 4-H member is free with minimal costs for participating in countywide activities.  For more information about joining 4-H, contact the Lincoln County UW-Extension at 539-1072 or visit our website at www.lincolncounty4h.com.

Cheryl Roets, 4-H volunteer leader with the assistance of Steven Roets, 4-H youth leader, taught a session for youth to learn about common birds they might find in their backyards, types of food to feed them and made a bird feeder to take home from a plastic 2-liter bottle.

Shelby Fehlber (left) and Steven Fehlberg (right) work on one the easter crafts they made during this session taught by Donna Barkley, 4-H volunteer leader and Joe Barklety, 4-H youth leader.

Brenda Krueger makes a unique jewelry item during this session taught by Myria Kludy, a 4-H youth leader.

4-H volunteer leader, Jane Schulz (right) assists Keleb Kerchefski (center) and Clayton Plautz (left) with the finishing touches on the dust pan each of them made from old license plates.

Steven Roets, a 4-H youth leader in the poultry project, shares his knowledge with participants during the “Breaking Apart the World of Chickens” session he planned and taught.  During the session, participants had an opportunity to paint a wooden chicken to represent a breed of chickens they learned more about.

“Basketry.jpg” – Fern Langhoff, a 4-H volunteer leader, provides assistance to Jeza Kleinschmidt in weaving her basket during this session.

Laura Weiland, a member of the Merrill Busy Bees 4-H Club, creates her own unique tote bag during a session taught by Beth Krueger.

Rebecca Ryan (right) and Julie VanGroll (left) put into practice the photography tips they learned in the “Joy of Photography” workshop taught by Wayne Brabender.  After taking photos, participants then went back to the workshop to evaluate their photos.

Jack Burkam, (right) provides instructions for participants as they begin building their model airplane.