Growing up on a farm near Canada and away from the outside world, 4-H became my link to a wider multicultural array of people. As a 4-H family, we hosted an IFYE from Jordan that opened my eyes to new ways of living and thinking. I yearned to experience more. 4-H took me as an exchange delegate to Mississippi when I was only 16 years old and I saw life in the south before civil rights. Later I went as an IFYE to Switzerland and my world exploded.
I knew that the 4-H way of experiential learning set my life in motion. Later, 4-H influenced how I taught fourth grade and I developed a hands-on classroom of learning that became an innovative model that led me to teach it for the Education Department at the University of Minnesota. This connected me to direct the University of Pittsburgh’s model of Individualized Prescribed Instruction for public schools in three states. It paralleled the 4-H model and pupils excelled under it. As a 4-H Urban Agent/Educator, I relived my own 4-H experiences as I developed programs for 4-H.
My most memorable day was when I was judging art exhibits in Anoka County and a young boy started our conference by saying, “I’ve waited a whole year to see you again and show you my art.” It was then I realized how important it was to provide creative learning opportunities not only once a year but on going. I developed the Metro Art Force that many times a year offered 4-H’ers the chance to create. After retirement, I taught art for ten years in three State Prisons, using the 4-H model. My life has been a fantastic ride with wonderful mentors and supporters, thanks to 4-H.
