CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY 4-H COUNCIL

The Cape Girardeau County 4-H Council provides an out of school educational program for youth between five and 19 years of age. The 4-H program also recognizes the importance of the recreational needs of youth and emphasizes in it the 4-H club program.

The basic goal of the 4-H program is to assist youth to acquire life skills related to communication, decision making, self-improvement, peer selection and other important aspects of youth development. Cape County 4-H programs and activities include various club activities such as safety, health and conservation and a large variety of projects in which individual members may enroll.

Missouri 4-H offers its members the opportunity to enroll in approximately 70 different projects. The list of 4-H projects includes projects in traditional program areas such as livestock, crops, foods, clothing, and woodworking, but also features projects that provide learning experiences in program area such as computers, outdoor skills, visual arts, geology, small animals and photography. County level programs are also a part of the Cape County 4-H program and include 4-H camp, Cape County 4-H Fair and numerous contests such as public speaking, livestock judging, fashion revue, horse bowl and bicycle rodeo.

Regional and state level adult leader training opportunities are provided through Cape County 4-H. Members eight to 19 years of age also participate in regional and state level programs such as a regional teen retreat, a state teen conference, Missouri State 4-H Congress, Missouri State Fair, Kansas City 4-H Conference, Missouri Citizenship Workshop and many different state level contests.

There are 332 youth presently enrolled in the Cape County 4-H program and 225 adults serve in various leadership capacities. There are currently 16 4-H clubs in Cape County. The Missouri 4-H program offers a variety of enrichment programs to schools. Approximately 5,000 student units of school enrichment programs were provided to participating schools in Cape County in 1991. Embryology, water quality, space technology, bacteriology, horticulture and energy conservation are representative of the 4-H school enrichment program's diversity. The 4-H program also is involved in youth at risk programming and has programs that address youth related issues such as substance abuse, youth pregnancy and youth literacy development.

The Cape County 4-H Council raises approximately $7,000 through various fund raising projects. Two of its major fund raising projects are its annual food stand at the SEMO District Fair and annual 4-H Cookie Sales.

For more information, call 243-3581.