Kosciusko County youth celebrate National 4-H week through Oct. 13.

WARSAW — For the 76th consecutive year, millions of youth, parents, volunteers and alumni across the country are celebrating National 4-H Week through Oct. 13.

This year’s theme, “Inspire Kids To Do,” is a campaign that will give kids more opportunities to do, empowering them with the skills they need to succeed in life and career.

Throughout National 4-H Week, Kosciusko 4-H will showcase the many ways 4-H inspires kids to do through hands-on learning experiences as well as highlight the remarkable 4-H youth in the community who work each day to make a positive impact on those around them.

4-H was founded on the belief that when kids are empowered to pursue their passions and chart their own course, their unique skills grow and take shape, helping them to become true leaders in their lives, careers and communities. In celebration of the week, youth will be writing essays to share what the four “H’s”, head, heart, hands, and health, truly mean. Youth will also be participating in a day of service and acting out the 4-H pledge’s call to “pledge my hands to larger service” by volunteering at local non-profit organizations Saturday, Oct. 13. Many youth will also be present at TSC in Warsaw in honor of Tractor Supply Company’s annual Paper Clover Fundraiser for the National 4-H Program.

“4-H is not just about agriculture,” said Mindy Wise, 4-H/youth development extension educator. “It is about positive development for all youth through hands-on experiential learning. Experiences like ‘Junior Leaders’ for 7th to 12th-grade youth teach members teamwork, responsibility, planning, and initiative while they serve their community and better themselves.”

Kosciusko County’s newest opportunity is the Landscape Challenge for youth in grades 7 through 12. In this series of workshops, youth will work in teams to learn design elements, budgeting, software and more pertaining to landscaping and the winning team’s design will be brought to life in spring 2019. Workshops will be held on the second Tuesday of each month beginning in November. The workshops will be held Nov. 13, Dec. 11, Jan. 8, and Feb. 12. Registration and a $30 program fee for the Landscape Challenge are due to the Extension Office by Nov. 6.

4-H alumni around the country are always the first to acknowledge the significant positive impact that 4-H had on them as young people. In fact, research has shown that young people in 4-H are nearly four times as likely to contribute to their communities and are twice as likely to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math programs during after-school time.

In Kosciusko County nearly 800 4-H youth and 250 volunteers from the community are involved in 4-H.