4-H: Growing Leaders

In this episode of Under The Green, we sit down with Randolph County 4-H Agent Allison Walker Allen to explore what 4-H really is and why it continues to shape young leaders across our community. From its national mission to hands-on programs happening right here in Randolph County, this conversation highlights how 4-H reaches thousands of youth through school programs, community clubs, summer activities, and special interest projects.

We talk about the many opportunities available through 4-H — from livestock projects and shooting sports to robotics, drones, cooking, and public speaking — and how these experiences help young people develop confidence, leadership, and real-world life skills that carry well into adulthood.

Whether you grew up in 4-H, have a young person in your life who might benefit from the program, or are simply curious about how youth development programs make an impact in our county, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at a program dedicated to helping the next generation learn by doing and become tomorrow’s leaders.

Thank you for listening! Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RandolphNCCE or Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/randolph_county_extension/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Welcome back to Under the Green, the podcast where we explore the programs, people, and purpose inside the Randolph County Agricultural Center. Today we're talking about a program many people recognize by name but may not fully realize the depth of 4 H, from hands-on learning and leadership to life skills that last well beyond childhood. 4-H has shaped generations across our state and right here in our county. I'm joined by our 4-H agent, Allison Walker Allen, to talk about what 4-H really is, who it serves, and why it continues to matter today. Welcome, Allison. Thank you. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your educational background, where you come from, those kind of things.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

I'm Alison Walker Allen. I have been the 4-H agent here in Randolph County since August of 2015. So I am approaching 11 years this August. It's hard to believe. Time has definitely flown by. I am originally from Yadkin County. I grew up in 4-H and FFA when I was in high school. My parents had a small cow calf operation and taking ag classes at my high school and having a garden, things like that really helped grow my passion for agriculture. I love to tell the story of agriculture to kids and adults and why it matters every day to our lives. After I graduated high school, I went to NC State University and I graduated with a bachelor's degree in agriculture business management with a specialization in marketing. And I am currently finishing up my master's degree in agriculture extension education with NC State. I should have that finished and graduate in May. I'm really excited to be finished with taking those classes and that process. In my spare time, I really enjoy chickens. My husband and I have about 60 chickens. We have Easter eggers, olive eggers, Dominekers, Mill Fleur coachings, large fowl coachins, some naked neck chickens, and then some mixed breeds. We we have it all.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Yeah, you mentioned spare time, but I'm not really sure where you find spare time. There's not a lot of it. And also naming all those chicken breeds, that was like a foreign language to me. I'm sure there's probably others like a what? A what? But she knows them. That's all that matters. And if you want to know more about them, you can contact her. She'll let you know about them. But for questions today, we're going to start with a really broad overview and talk about, like on a national level, what is 4-H and what is its overall mission?

SPEAKER_01 3:27

4-H is the nation's largest youth development program. It's for kids ages 5 to 18. There is a 4-H agent in every county in every state across the United States. And the overall goal is to grow future leaders by hands-on opportunities.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

And how would you say that North Carolina 4-H uniquely carries out that mission at the state level?

SPEAKER_01 3:57

So North Carolina 4-H offers state-level programs. We have youth livestock and equine opportunities. There is even the Dinagore 4-H Food Challenge. That is a new competition that started two years ago, I believe. And last year, North Carolina's team got to go to Texas and compete in the national competition. There are citizenship programs that are offered every summer. There is 4-H Congress, and that is an opportunity for 4-H teens from across the state to come together and Raleigh. They get to go through some workshops, they do a community service project, and they have like a formal dance at the end of it. There are 4-H camps that youth can attend. North Carolina 4-H has three camps: the Eastern 4-H Center, and then we have the Betsy Jeff Penn 4-H Center in Reidsville, and then Millstone 4-H Center in Ellerby. The Millstone 4-H Center is the home to the North Carolina 4-H Shooting Sports program. That is also a really great opportunity for kids beyond livestock and programs like that.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

Well, it sounds like they stay busy as well. There's lots to offer at the state level, but let's bring it down to right here in Randolph County. And what does 4-H look like specifically here in our county and what makes it local and personal?

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Randolph County 4-H reaches youth within four main delivery modes. We have school enrichment programs, we have summer programs, we have community clubs, and we have special interest programs as well. Every summer we have a program for ages five to seven. We call those our clover bud youth. And then we have a program for eight and up. As far as community clubs go, we have two shooting sports clubs. We have the Super Sharp Shooting Stars 4-H Club. They are in the eastern part of the county, in the Staley area. And then we have the Randolph County Rangers. They are in the Thomasville Denton area of Randolph County. And then we have the Randolph County Coop and Pen Pals 4-H Club. They are a more traditional club with a little bit of focus in poultry, and they're wanting to do goats as well. But that club just started in June of 2025. The Randolph County Junior Rangers, they started in 2024. And then the Super Sharp Shooting Stars has been around long before I have. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

For me as well, which we came in pretty close together. But yes, they've been around a good while and have a great reputation as a great club to be a part of. And we're proud of all the clubs that are just starting out or just still getting their feet wet in it all. It's a great opportunity for all the youth in our county. So with that, the million-dollar question that we get asked all the time: how do young people typically get started in 4 H?

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Typically, they find a project that interests them. So they are introduced to 4-H in some capacity. And then once they're in it, they find out all of the many opportunities that are within 4-H, and that's usually how we hook them. We have the Youth Market Turkey project that youth can participate in. And actually, registration just went live for that program yesterday. But that program, these kids can sign up and they are given three turkey polts, and they get to raise them from June until October at the state fair. They take their biggest bird and they get to show it at the fair. We have had several winners from Randolph County, but that's a great opportunity to find out about 4 H. We also have our Randolph County 4-H chicken and rabbit chain. So this is a really cool opportunity for kids to get involved, especially around COVID pandemic times. People were really wanting to raise poultry at their house. And Randolph County 4H has such a large embryology project. The chicks that come back from embryology are adopted out to kids and they learn how to raise the chickens. And we have monthly meetings and then we have a show. So a lot of our kids get involved in that way. But 4 H is more than cows and plows. There are lots of other opportunities. We have robotics. There are lots of robotic opportunities. There is a competition at the district and state level to use drones and you learn coding as well. It's called the game of drones. And we had a team two years ago that went and placed at that competition. But there's just so many opportunities. Once you get in 4 H somehow, you learn about all these different opportunities. And we're able to hook a lot of kids and they stay throughout their childhood within 4-H. 4-H is a good program to learn life skills that carry well into your adult life.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

So if you've got a youth or a family that's wanting to join a club, can you talk briefly about what that process looks like? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

So to join 4-H, all you have to do is create an account. We use an online enrollment system. It's called 4-H Online, but it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to create that initial account. Once you have the account, that is good for your lifetime. You can use that account from year to year. Our 4-H year runs from January 1st through December 31st. So every year you have to re-enroll to participate. But like I said, it's free to join 4-H. You create your account in 4-H online, and then you're able to select what club you're interested in. And you select that. And so that way you can participate in anything. You don't have to be tied to a specific club. If you are interested in a club, you you select your club. You can be in as many clubs as you want to. There's not a limit of what you can do participation-wise.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

I know one thing I have learned over my time, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but um I know when I've had to answer that question, I recommend that families go contact that club leader. They see, hey, when's your next meeting? And go and attend the meeting. Just get a feel for you know what the club's mission is, meet the leaders, meet the members, see if that's a good fit for you. And then if it is, take that next step. Definitely fill out all that paperwork and just start becoming a part of it because it will be what you make it be. If you don't put much effort into it, then you're not going to get much out of it. So you've got you got to bring your A game to the table slash club.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

Yes, absolutely. You can try out a club meeting before you commit to joining that club. It's always a good idea to contact the club leader directly because you may enroll in 4 H Online, but we don't necessarily get an email letting us know or letting that club leader know that somebody has joined their club. So the best way to find out information about 4-H Online, all the different clubs, our upcoming events and opportunities is to follow us on our Facebook page or visit our website. We have all of the information you need and probably more. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Yes, we do. So you mentioned some things outside of agriculture, some clubs that we have, as well as uh state level competitions, regional competitions, all those things that again are outside of agriculture. So what skills do youth gain that go beyond agriculture or animals?

SPEAKER_01 13:07

So 4-H, we are all about learn by doing, being involved in 4-H, you learn a wide skill set. You learn record keeping, time management, critical thinking skills, communication skills, public speaking, leadership skills. You learn the basics of cooking. A couple summers ago, we offered a class. We actually offered it multiple summers, adulting 101. We even taught kids how to change a tire, how to check your oil in your car, what all the different gauges in your dash stood for, how to boil water, how to cook an egg, how to do laundry, what those symbols on your shirt tag, what they meant. We've also taught kids how to write a check, how to calculate tip when you go out to a restaurant to eat. 4-H, the possibilities are endless.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

Absolutely. So obviously, you can't do all of this by yourself. As we heard in the beginning, you're a very busy woman. So you have to rely on volunteers and parents. Can you talk about their role in making 4-H successful?

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Absolutely. So we have so many different programs, projects, and clubs. We need lots of hands-on help. We have wonderful 4-H volunteers and parents here in Randolph County. We have volunteers that help with different clubs, with different programs and projects. All of our volunteers that are responsible for care, custody, and control of kids, they are background checked. So they have to go through a background check and they we do reference checks on them as well. They have to fill out an application and tell us why they want to volunteer. But we have parents that help us with our livestock programs. They help us set up for the livestock show. We have a wonderful teacher, 4-H club volunteer that helps train kids for 4-H dairy quiz bowl. Our club leaders, they put in many, many hours to help make their club successful. To be to create a 4-H club, you have to have two adult club leaders, and they have to go through two trainings annually. So we have our club leaders. We also have volunteers that help with the clubs. For instance, our shooting sports clubs, they have coaches that help teach the kids the disciplines that they offer in the 4-H shooting sports program. Within 4-H shooting sports, you can do shotgun, rifle, archery, hunter safety, and hunter skills. So these coaches have to go to a weekend training and become a certified 4-H shooting sports instructor. We also have episodic volunteers that come and help us with specific programs. For instance, we've done sewing projects before, and we've had volunteers that have come in to help run the program and help teach the kids while they are actually using the sewing machine. Our Randolph County, they are wonderful volunteers for us as well. They have helped with cooking classes and they've helped with the sewing projects. They have helped with library programs when we've needed extra hands for programs. So there are a lot of volunteer opportunities within 4-H, whether you have 10 hours a month to spare with helping lead a club, or if you just have an hour or two here and there throughout the year. If you are interested in working with young people, if you have a skill set that you would like to share, please reach out. We would love to connect with you and get you involved in our 4-H program.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

So a couple of takeaways that I hear from what she just said is we are always looking for more. Always. We will find something for you to do if you want to be a part of this. And then also you can trust the people that your children are going to be around, whether it be a shooting sports club, because obviously that could get a little hairy, get a little dangerous, a little worrisome. But you can trust that those people are trained and that they're up to date on safety and what they're teaching our youth is good information. And lastly, we can't do it without you. We cannot do it without you, you parents and volunteers and people that just have a heart for this. So yeah, contact Allison if you are interested in being a part of that because she would love to have you. How does 4-H partner with schools, other organizations, or community groups that are local?

SPEAKER_01 18:19

So I'm going to break that down into two parts there. So 4-H partners with schools to do school enrichment programs. All of our curriculum and 4-H programs are straight from universities, because as you know, we are paired with a land grant university. So we in North Carolina have North Carolina State University and NCANT State University. But we also have access to all of the other land grant universities throughout the United States. So our curriculum is all peer-reviewed. It's tried and tested. It even tells how it aligns with the essential standards. So that makes it really easy to sell these programs to teachers because, you know, they are tied to standards and things that they have to do within the classroom. So our school enrichment programs bring those hands-on learning opportunities to our students. We have programs, school enrichment programs for kids ages five to 18. This morning I was at South Mont Elementary School. Today was the first lesson in our farm to table program. We talked about different kinds of farms, farms that these kids could see in Randolph County. And then the kids got to make a basil seed germination necklace that they will take home and watch grow. So that's a really good way to get these kids learning. They're still learning what they would learn in their science class, but they got to have a hands-on activity to take home with them. Our biggest school enrichment program is probably our embryology program. We started round one of embryology on Monday, March 2nd. We had 74 classrooms to sign up to participate in embryology. These classrooms are Randolph County Schools, Ashborough City Schools, and URA Charter Schools. And we also have had homeschool families that take part in this program. But each classroom receives a dozen eggs, and the teacher and the students are responsible for turning the eggs and taking care of them while they are in the classroom. And after 21 days, the eggs should start to hatch and the chicks are born. So these kids get to see the whole life cycle process take place in their classroom and they get to be proud of the part that they had in that program. We also have a partnership with Randolph County Middle Schools. In order for the middle schools to have animals on campus per their insurance, they have to have an agreement working with 4-H. So we work with all seven Randolph County Middle Schools to offer a poultry and rabbit program. So we provide some lessons for these teachers. We provide resources, but five of the seven middle schools have chicken coops on campus, and the students are learning in their ag class, you know, the basics, how to take care of these chickens, nutrition, housing, predator control. And then they actually have a chicken coop that they get to go outside. And they get to practice what they are doing in the classroom with real life animals and have that hands-on experience. And since we are here in the new Ag Center, I am hoping that in the future we will be able to have a middle school 4-H poultry show. We also do the same thing with rabbits. So currently we have three campuses that have a rabbit hutch on campus, and the teachers have lessons. They teach the students how to breed the rabbits, and the students get to experience that process. And once the babies are born, they actually get to help socialize the babies and then get them ready to be adopted by 4-H'ers. We also have environmental programs. We have science programs, microorganisms. We've got some healthy living things. We have kits that teachers can check out. And we're hoping to expand on offering kits in the future as well. But there are lots of ways that schools can partner with 4-H. We have some schools that have community, school and community gardens and things. But there are so many opportunities for teachers to partner with Extension. And like I said, everything is peer-reviewed, tried and tested, and we can provide how it aligns with the essential standards. And you mentioned community partners. We work with a lot of partners throughout Randolph County. We have partnerships with most of the Randolph County public libraries. We offer, most of the time, we offer monthly library programs and we do all sorts of things. A lot of the programs are related to STEM, and the kids get to do some kind of fun activity. We also work with the libraries for their summer reading program. This year, the theme for the summer reading program is dinosaurs. So I have created several dinosaur-themed programs that we will be doing at Archdale Public Library and Liberty Public Library. And hopefully some of the other libraries will get those scheduled as well. But we're going to talk about the correlation between dinosaurs and chickens and how they are the closest living relatives to dinosaurs. And so that's going to be a fun, exciting program. You don't want to miss that. So be watching our social media and the library's social media as well to find out more information. We also work with the YNCA, Ashborough Housing Authority, and some of our local school age daycares. We do a lot of after-school programs with those youth. We offer a lot of summer programs with these community partners. If you are interested in having 4-H come out to your youth center or however you work with youth, reach out to us. We can definitely offer something for you. Like I said, we have access to all kinds of curriculum and kits and programs that we can offer.

SPEAKER_00 25:41

And you've mentioned a couple of times now, you know, about the information that you're out there teaching is peer-reviewed. It's backed by university studies, all those things, which every program that every agent in this office does have is the same way. You can it's trusted information, period. Point blank. I don't know what else to say about that. But now let's get into some opinions. You know, you've been in this game for a minute, 11 years almost. So let's just ask some personal but 4-H questions. What is one program or activity that you think everyone should know about?

SPEAKER_01 26:19

We've already talked about this, but 4-H teaches so many skills to kids that carry over into adulthood. And this is definitely a program that I think everybody needs to know about and be a part of. But it's not going to be your favorite program that you join. Um, but it's the District Activity Day Presentations program. It doesn't matter what career you go into, you need to know public speaking and you need to be able to communicate with other adults. And so I definitely credit 4-H with my ability to present and communicate with other adults. I use public speaking skills every day in my job. Whether I'm talking to first graders or I'm talking to the Farm Bureau Board of Directors, I have to be able to communicate effectively and efficiently. And public speaking is one of the number one fears for people in America. I've actually taught public speaking programs many, many times, and we play a game talking about different fears, and the kids are always shocked when they find out that it's public speaking. But 4-H has a program called District Activity Day, and these youth are able to sign up to give a five to seven minute presentation to three different judges, and they receive feedback and constructive criticism on their presentation and how well they did. And this program starts at age five. So if you get your child involved in this when they're a clover bud, they are eligible or or they're able to learn these skills. And that's they're just going to continue to improve upon their skills every year, and that's going to help them when they're an adult.

SPEAKER_00 28:26

Definitely. That is very important. Obviously, we we have to talk to each other. So but you need those skills, job interviews, I mean just anything. It's it's very, very, very valuable. So that was a fantastic answer. So in all of your time, like you said, almost 11 years now, uh, what is a moment with a youth participant that has really stuck with you?

SPEAKER_01 28:48

So when I started, we did livestock judging and some other competitions. And there was a young person involved in 4-H, and she would not make eye contact with anybody, and she just did not like to speak to any adults, and I really saw her take part in all of these 4-H opportunities, and she was able to develop her public speaking skills, and I I just saw her blossom and turn into the young lady she is today. And she has since aged out of 4-H. She has graduated college and she has a successful job and will be getting married in June. And I'm just I'm proud of what 4-H did for her. And like I said earlier, 4-H definitely shaped me into the person that I am today. And that's one of my favorite parts about this job is just giving back to the organization that helped to shape me. There are probably lots of other moments that I could share, but that that definitely sticks with me.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

That that's a great story. Hopefully, they won't come get us for asking this question because we're not replacing the motto. I'm just curious, if 4-H had a motto, a real life motto, not the official one, Allison's opinion, what would it be? Building future leaders.

SPEAKER_01 30:20

Because, like I said throughout this whole episode, 4-H gives you the skill set and the tools that you need to be successful, no matter what career or what path life takes you on. You learn these life skills that are so essential to success.

SPEAKER_00 30:39

All right. Now tell everyone their real motto. Just so we like we got it covered and we don't get in trouble. To make the best better.

unknown 30:46

See?

SPEAKER_00 30:46

Easy. Easy peasy. Yes. And that's all that's the big goal. To make the best better. You're already the best, but you can always be better. For sure. All right. So if someone had zero farm background, would they still fit in?

SPEAKER_01 31:01

Absolutely. There are so many opportunities within 4-H. And I'm I'm so excited to be in this new space and to be able to offer programs that we've never offered before. One of the things that I'm excited about that I have an idea for this summer is to offer some hands-on cooking workshops and have like our own mini food challenge. You know, thank Gordon Ramsey, minus the yelling, of course. But something along that lines, like to challenge the kids to come up with a meal based on the ingredients that we give them. But, you know, there's so many opportunities with 4-H. There's the robotics, the coding, drones, just technology in general. And then we have art programs. We have the citizenship programs. There's all of these leadership opportunities. So you can definitely find your place here in Randolph County 4 H.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

What's a myth people have about 4-H that they see differently once they come and participate?

SPEAKER_01 32:16

This one kind of ties into that last question. You know, 4-H is more than agriculture. You don't have to come from a farm background to be a member of 4-H. You can join and you can certainly be involved in the livestock programs, but you don't have to come from a farm background to have a successful 4-H career.

SPEAKER_00 32:43

It's for everybody, every single body. So if you've got a young person in your life and you think that they can benefit from all these things that Allison has talked about today, definitely reach out. But one last question, because I know our listeners are going to be beating down the door. When can we expect summer to be advertised?

SPEAKER_01 33:05

Well, we are hoping to have summer ready to advertise by the end of April or early May.

SPEAKER_00 33:13

Perfect. Because we also hopefully have a new person joining the team, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

We are excited to have a second 4-H agent join the team. And we are going to be making even greater impacts on youth that we serve here in Randolph County. And I don't think we talked about this, Chastity, but you know, Randolph County 4 H we reach a lot of people. Every year we reach close to 10,000 people through different 4-H programs, whether it's school enrichment, summer programs, special interest, or community clubs.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

Yes, we we are all out there, all out and about. We're in your schools, we're in your libraries, we're at the Y, we're here at the Ag Center. You can experience 4-H a lot of different ways, a lot of different places. But we we just want you to feel like you belong and we want you to be a part of it in the way that interests you and your family that is a good fit for your time, your abilities, your interest, all of the above. We just want you to know that you're welcome and we're happy to have you. And just reach out to Allison if you're interested in any of these things. So we appreciate your time, Allison. So as we've learned today, 4-H is more than projects and meetings. It's about confidence and responsibility and giving young people a place to belong and grow. Thank you for sharing how these programs help shape future leaders right here in our community. And next time on Under the Green, we'll be joined by Adam and Lauren as we step into livestock programs, practical management, herd health, and resources for livestock producers of all experience levels across Randolph County. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time right here under the cream.