The Legacy of 4-H

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[NARRATOR] In the early 1900s, America was a country more rural than urban. More of us lived on farms than in cities. Of farmers, Thomas Jefferson said, they that labor in the earth are the chosen people of God. But beginning as early as the mid 1800s, people were choosing to leave the good earth behind, moving to towns and into cities. The conveniences and wages an irresistible draw. Yet in the midst of that surge, a country school teacher in southwest Iowa stood ready to stem the tide. She knew the hands on skills she learned, the chores she mastered, and the values of community she cherished should be shared and celebrated. Rural young people, she believed, were a rich resource, a resource worth investing in. Jessie Field Shambaugh would leave an indelible mark on rural America, a mark we know well.

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[NARRATOR] 4-H grew from that conviction, an idea rooted in service, leadership and learning by doing. For more than a century, it has shaped generations of young Americans, empowering them to discover purpose, lead with intention and carry forward a legacy born in the farm fields but destined to reach far beyond.

[TRISTA BLAUWET] It's a very big part of our how we raise our kids. It's just very much a part of our life and our our lifestyle.

[ELLA JOHNSON] It has impacted my life in so many ways, especially the connections I've made. 

[ALICIA JOHNSON] We knew from the get go that when we would start our family, that our children would definitely be involved with 4-H and we could not wait for our children to get old enough.

[COOPER WILLIAMS] Riding horses and stuff and then mom always helped with Clover Kids in Page County, and then we got into that early and just was always at everything 4-H. 

[KOLBY OLDENKAMP] Because of that, we can have town kids and country kids together just is so widespread and anyone can participate if they want to.

[VALERIE PLAGGE] I wanted my kids to be involved in 4-H because 4-H is for everybody And it doesn't matter who you are or what your last name is or how maybe athletic you are or musically talented you are, everybody can find their niche in 4-H.

[ERIC HANSON] Iowa has a proud, deep history with 4-H, and those founders had a great idea that benefited so many kids around the state whether they stuck with it for eight years like I did, or dipped their toes into 4-H and had a good experience, and they carry it with them for the rest of their lives.

[NARRATOR] Today, 4-H is America's largest youth development organization. It supports nearly 6 million young people across the country and is sustained by more than 3,000 educators, 500,000 volunteers and an estimated 35 million alumni.

[FLORINE SWANSON] I joined 4-H in 1952. So I'm thinking I know more than half of the history of this organization at this point.

[RONNIE FOSTER] My kids was all in 4-H. They showed horses and they showed dairy heifers for several years and they showed lambs.

[NIKKI WILLIAMS-SIMONS] It's just a sensational feeling. I don't know how to explain it. That my grandpa did this, and then my dad and my aunts and my uncles and then me and my cousins and then my kids. It's just a family tradition.

[NARRATOR] 4-H is active in every county and parish in the country, urban and rural, through clubs, school programs, camps, and special projects.

[MITCHELL HOYER] Well, what we're really about is helping young people become ready and prepared for the future. We talk in today's language. We talk about helping young people be beyond ready, ready to lead and work, ready to lead in life, ready to leave in school, that they're healthy young people, they're engaged in their community and that they contribute back. And that's really been true for 120 years.

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[NARRATOR] At the turn of the 20th century, industrialization was firing the growth of American cities. Farm families were navigating sweeping change, new technologies, evolving markets, and an uncertain future.

[DR. MARGARET WEBER] So in the early 20th century, you know, this is sort of a new era in obviously in the United States. And it's a time in which what is known as to historians as the progressive era, which is a multifaceted response to the problems of the previous century. And what you have is a lot of people who are deeply anxious about the world they're living in, about lots of the technological changes that have happened, the demographic changes, and they're looking for solutions to problems.

[NARRATOR] The stark reality the countryside was being drained of its most important resource. Between 1880 and 1910, an estimated 10 to 15 million people left farmsteads and rural communities drawn to the promise of electricity, indoor plumbing and a steady paycheck.

[DR. MARGARET WEBER] Now, this is a demographic trend that's been happening for, you know, by that time, 100 years or so. But it's reaching sort of a fever pitch in the early 20th century as people are concerned about who's going to be producing food. Who are these farmers going to be? And they're especially anxious about young, about children, the youth leaving the farm for sort of the bright lights of the city.

[NARRATOR] Those concerns reached the White House. President Teddy Roosevelt assembled a team of experts, and in 1908, the Commission on Country Life was created.

[PAMELA RINEY-KEHRBERG] Theodore Roosevelt's Commission on Country Life was intended to investigate the situation of farmers all across the country to find out what their problems were, what their needs were, and then to try and think about solutions that would keep farmers on the land. There was a real panic at the beginning of the 20th century, whether enough farm people were going to remain on the land for the nation to be fed. And so they had to make sure that everybody was getting what they needed in order to keep them happy and on farms.

[NARRATOR] The Country Life Commission stirred new hope in rural America, but the answer was already at hand. For nearly a decade, educators and reformers had quietly been laying the groundwork, organizing boys and girls agricultural clubs across the countryside. A driving force behind the movement was neither a politician nor scientist, but a young woman who believed deeply in rural children and the communities that shaped them. Jessie Field, later Jessie Field Shambaugh, was a teacher who knew young people were capable of far more than the rote learning common in schools. She saw curiosity where others saw routine and possibility where others saw limitations.

[DR. MARGARET WEBER] 4-H would not exist without Jessie Field. It is her ability to bring people together. Local people trusted her and they trusted her with their students and they trusted her even when she begins to introduce some sort of new ideas into the school setting. It never would have succeeded without her. She's kind of the first glue that holds it together. And so she is incredibly important for its development.

[NARRATOR] In 1901, Jessie organized the first youth clubs in Page County, turning her one room schoolhouse into the heart of community life. She believed education should honor rural values, connect learning to real work, to prepare young people not just to farm, but to lead. Over time, she would become known as and affectionately referred to as the mother of 4-H. 

[SETH WATKINS] My name is Seth Watkins and Jessie Field Shambaugh is my grandmother. She was my mom's mom, if that helps. And, she's, her legacy certainly plays a big part in my life.

[TATUM WATKINS] I'm Tatum Watkins. Jessie Field Shambaugh is my great grandmother on my dad's mom's side. I think I'm the fifth, maybe sixth generation to call Page County home.

[NARRATOR] Born in Shenandoah, Iowa on June 26th, 1881, Celestia Josephine Field, nicknamed Jessie, was the fifth of eight children born to Solomon and Celestia Field. An avid reader, Jessie was fascinated with science and agriculture. By age 12, she was traveling with her father to Farmers Institute meetings in the Shenandoah Opera House, where she was the rare female in the crowd. There, Jessie was inspired by the words of Uncle Henry Wallace, editor of Wallace's Farmer, whose motto was good farming, clear thinking, right living.

[DR. MARGARET WEBER] Jessie Field is a really interesting character because, you know, she's born in Page County. And her family's a little unusual in that both of her, her parents both supported education not just for their sons, but also for their daughters.

[NARRATOR] Jesse graduated from Shenandoah High School in 1899 and at just 19 took her first teaching job at Goldenrod Country School in Page County.

[NARRATOR] In that one room classroom, she planted the proverbial seeds of her boys corn and girls home clubs, group activities to teach practical farming and homemaking skills. Jesse believed that education should prepare young people for real life, and that the best classroom was quite likely the world itself.

[SETH WATKINS] She knew that these young people were just as capable as the kids in town, and she said, what do they need? And she met them where they were with the resources they needed, and gave them a chance to be a part of something.

[TATUM WATKINS] I think that she is the absolute epitome of what a farm kid, what a rural person should be. She cared more about her community than I think she ever did about herself. You can see this with examples of there were multiple times when she was offered job opportunities that would have removed her from this area and for all intents and purposes, opportunities that she should have taken. But she didn't because she repeatedly said how much she cared about where she came from and that she wanted to make a difference here. She made sure that everything she did was with the intention of bettering her community, bettering her town, bettering herself, bettering her family. And I just think, yeah, I think that that's the best way I can describe her is she really, really cared.

[FLORINE SWANSON] She was hoping to keep rural farm children, particularly in the community. She did not want them to go off to the city to work. And so she wanted to establish a pride of community.

[NARRATOR] After a year at Goldenrod Country School, Jesse felt that to truly serve her students, she needed more education. She earned her bachelor's degree at Tabor College in 1903 and briefly taught in Antigo, Wisconsin, and served as a principal in Helena, Montana. But it wasn't long before she headed home. In 1906, Jesse was elected superintendent of schools for Page County, Iowa, among the first women in the state to hold the office.

[SETH WATKINS] So she was actually elected to be the superintendent of schools in Page County before women could vote. And I think this is where her story really begins. And she recognized that the rural kids didn't have the same resources as maybe some of the kids in the town schools. But she also knew they were every bit as capable. It's a great story about the power of equity. And she said, what would happen if I made sure these young people had the resources they needed to learn more about agriculture, to learn more about homemaking.

[NARRATOR] When Jesse became superintendent, she organized boys corn clubs and girls home clubs in all 130 schools in her district. Traveling by a horse deemed too wild for a lady to ride, it pulled her and her buggy across miles of unsurfaced and ungraded roads. in as little as four months, Jesse had visited every school and said she knew every student's name.

[WOMAN’S VOICE] Driving from one rural school to another with my horse and buggy was not a speedy way to travel, but it was a most satisfactory way. It provided a fine opportunity to visit with the farm families and to observe what they were doing. Ideas and plans raced through my mind, crowding each other out for the foreground of my attention. I knew that I must prove to everyone, mostly myself, that the trust placed in my hands by voters to lead the way to better education in the rural areas had not been misplaced.

[DR. MARGARET WEBER] She's well known in the community. Her parents are well known. Her brother is a prominent businessman, and so what makes her special is that she sort of comes in with these new ideas and makes them actually work. She and her teachers are the ones who are sort of judging and running these trainings herself. So she's moving around, she's talking to these people, and she's really being a community activist and sort of, again, a person who is connecting all sorts of people, whether they be sort of the little student to, you know, these big professors who are coming to sort of give the most recent agricultural knowledge all the way in Page County.

[MITCH HOYER] I think some of the key things for her is she recognized early on that young people needed hands on experiences outside the school room. And so she really put into practical terms, we need to educate young people. Not just by means of the three R's, but by means of the three H's and make them into a fit, living human being ready for life. And she really took that to heart. And so, you know, she kept kids after school and they learned about better methods of raising corn, better and safer methods of food preservation and canning. She really embraced that hands on education in those rural schoolhouses.

[NARRATOR] Jessie organized a sweeping array of youth clubs, corn sewing, cooking, even road dragging, and her club members didn't just participate, they dominated. Her corn judging team claimed the state title three years in a row. In 1910, her girls cooking club won state. And at the National Corn Show in Omaha, Nebraska, her boys corn club took first prize, winning a red one cylinder brush automobile.

[WOMAN’S VOICE] Well, that was something. But now we really did have a problem. What were we going to do with one car when so many had contributed to winning it? We thought and thought, but it was the boys and girls who made the decision. They voted to give it to the county superintendent. If she would drive this little car from school to school instead of the horse and buggy, so she could visit the schools more often. This is how I came to be a very proud owner of the brush car, a very proud county superintendent indeed.

[SETH WATKINS] There's a certain part of pragmatism that I appreciate, you know. And if you don't have good roads, you don't have good agriculture. So she started these road drag clubs with the kids and they would make a drag, it was it was logs bound together, and the whole point was to keep that low road graded and level as well as possible. And that was one of the competitions that went on after school. And all of a sudden Page County had better roads than some of the other counties. This gave our farmers an advantage.

[PAUL LASLEY] It wasn't only about acquisition of skills for young people, but it also introduced new ideas that the children would bring home to their families. And so the, the notion of innovation, of new ideas and how to integrate them. So 4-H really became a way to not only improve the well-being of children and youth, but it also brought ideas into the farm family.

[ALICIA JOHNSON] 4-H is a family activity. And I often think that we forget about that from time to time. Yes, it's the kids that are showing the animals that are exhibiting the project. But year round it's a family activity and being able to watch, Darren and I help the girls break calves to lead, lambs to lead, goats to lead, pigs to walk. And spending that time together has been, on the livestock side of it, priceless. And then on the exhibit side of things, teaching her how to sew, how to put a pie together, how to do these different things. It's still all family. I know you've done the butter horns that was passed down from her great grandma, sugar cookies from another great grandma. So, just the family involvement is super important for our family.

[NARRATOR] Long before the movement had a name, Jesse believed young people should see their efforts reflected back to them, recognized, valued, remembered. In 1907, she fashioned a symbol of encouragement and hope.

[WOMAN’S VOICE] I decided on a three leaf clover pin. It would represent conservation and agriculture. Keeping the nitrogen in the soil was very important. The clover would do this. I put an H on each leaf, each one to stand for something I believed in. I thought it took a good thinking head to be a good farmer, and it took a good true heart in the world to do things in the right way. And it took hands that were willing to work hard and long to make a success anywhere.

[MITCH HOYER] You know, I can only imagine in some respects, especially dealing in the agriculture world. I have to think that was incredibly challenging. But the fact that she was able to build that level of trust and respect with parents and community members that respected what what she was doing for their young kids and really helping them discover passions and build their skill.

[NARRATOR] In 1909, Jesse welcomed the US Commissioner of Education and several superintendents from southern states to Page County. As the group toured her youth clubs, the consensus was Jesse's schools were the best in America, models of education that would shape the next decade.

[DR. MARGARET WEBER] There are just major educational figures who are coming and are sort of in awe of what she's managed to do on the ground.

[TATUM WATKINS] She was one of the only women that is credited at all with being involved in the early beginnings of 4-H. Her role was as important as any man that was involved. I think that whatever contribution she had was groundbreaking.

[NARRATOR] In 1910, Jesse helped organize the first summer farm camps for boys, where young men learned about livestock, crop judging and farming techniques. Recognizing a similar need for young women, the very next year, she created a camp for girls focused on home economics and life skills.

[DR. MARGARET WEBER] So the first farm camps are, I think, a really important moment within sort of, again, the very murky origins of 4-H because they're the first time that the organization is taken outside the school setting and they're wildly successful. But we see sort of where the organization can go and where it eventually does go.

[TATUM WATKINS] Beyond just making sure that rural students have the same opportunities as urban students is that she really made sure that girls had the same opportunity as boys. And in the process of that, a girl from Page County was actually one of the first people to be sent to D.C. to represent Page County, to represent Iowa in a home economics competition.

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[NARRATOR] 4-H did not begin with a single founder. At its core stood Jesse Field, but others shared her leadership and vision and helped define its purpose. Among them, A.B. Graham, who organized experimental agricultural clubs in Ohio in 1902 and is widely considered the father of 4-H. Cap E. Miller in Keokuk County, Iowa, urged his teachers to form school based farm clubs, and O.H. Benson of Wright County, Iowa, introduced the movement's endearing and steadfast four leaf clover emblem. Collectively, their efforts grew into a national movement.

[DR. MARGARET WEBER] 4-H has its origins in lots of different schools, with lots of different people who were all sort of interested in making the world a better place, and that created what would become an institution and that is still around today.

[PAUL LASLEY] You know, I think it was an awareness and a recognition on their part to say there's a lot of talent in, in these rural families and rural youth. They recognize that the welfare of the entire community was dependent upon bringing everybody up. That could be fostered through 4-H programs and through clubs.

[NARRATOR] These grassroots clubs revealed a powerful truth. Young people learned best by doing, and hands on learning could change not only kids but entire communities. Farmers, educators and lawmakers paid attention. In 1914, Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act, establishing the National Cooperative Extension Service. Its passage created a critical link between land grant universities and family farms.

[PAMELA RINEY-KEHRBERG] In 1914, the Smith-Lever Act formalizes extension. It is the act that provides the funding to connect land grant universities across the United States to the people. That's what extension does. Extension takes the research of the land grant university and then all kinds of information gets interpreted.

[MITCH HOYER] Anytime you have a 4-H program anywhere in the nation, it's going to be connected with a land grant university. And when the Smith-Lever Act got passed in 1914, that really solidified that whole connection with extension work and USDA and the land grant universities. And while 4-H wasn't specifically mentioned as part of that legislation, it was clear that youth work was intended to be part of that. And so, we always we have that kind of connection.

[NARRATOR] Extension agents who once traveled by horse and buggy to rural communities now arrive with laptops and lesson plans, but the mission remains unchanged. Education is shared person to person.

[DR. SARA NELSON] Iowa 4-H Youth Development is a part of extension and outreach, and we have a 99 county campus is what I like to say and 100 offices, but 99 counties. And because we have that infrastructure, we are able to reach across the state in every county and offer programs and services that we hope make the lives of Iowans better.

[BETH BUNKERS] We don't do anything without adult supervision and adult caring adult to help move the project forward. You always have the support needed to go to the next step, and that's critical. I think it's really our foundation and it allows kids to develop those life skills and communication, problem solving. And we try and provide those opportunities for for youth. And we're not just like throwing them out there, but we have those adults that support that and help them move and connect the dots to help them get to where they want to be later in life.

[EMILY SAVERAID] I teach the abundance of the fields of flocks and herds, the orderliness and peace of the home, the beauty of woods, the stream, the glory of work and tasks accomplished. I am known to but few. I serve without wages or price. Yet my reward is great. For I am helping build a nation. I am the local leader of the Agricultural Extension Service and 4-H Club Work. And I mean, I just read that and I have tears in my eyes because it -- the 4-H program is more than this building. It's more than the staff. It is powered so much by people who care about young people.

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[NARRATOR] As 4-H spread across rural America, the county fair became its brightest stage. The fair was the milestone on the calendar, the moment when months of hard work culminated into recognition, experiences that still resonate with 4-Hers today.

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[ETHAN BALUWET] For me, growing up, my favorite experience was the fair. I mean, that was that's what you did all the work for all year. Because all of us, I lived out in the country, I grew up on a farm, and all my friends grew on farms. So you worked on the farm most of the year, but that four days of the fair, you showed up and it was you and your friends for four days. You got to show with them, you got to run around. And they had the midway and that's why I did it. I mean it was, the fair was literally the best four days of your summer.

[JIM WALLICK] My favorite experiences so far are like winning quite a few of my speed event races with my horse and winning showmanship and some other things with my horse. Getting some first, second place, third place finishes with my pigs, sheep and calves. I just like that I have been able to figure out the best way to train my animals, the best way possible to get those results that I want to impress a judge as much as possible.

[JET WILLIAMS] It's pretty fun. It's basically just a big old family show. It's fun to have my siblings, my grandpa and my mom and everybody else is always fun. 

[COOPER WILLIAMS] It's pretty cool. When we would go to the county fair and it'd be Ron Foster's horse barn, where our horses stayed at when we were at the fair. And it's right there behind the arena. So everybody that came and looked at the horses read Ron Foster's horse barn.

[RONNIE FOSTER] That's a crowning glory, you know. And I was very proud of our barn. Yeah. And at the time we first built the barn or we was having about a hundred horses, and that was more than about five counties around with their combined numbers.

[VALERIE PLAGGE] I just have fond memories of hanging out in the barns and, having a giant water fight at the last day of the county fair. And just a lot of family time, too. My mom and my dad and my sisters and I were all there all day, every day. And it was just a lot of fun. My husband calls me a fair junkie because I do enjoy it more than he does, but I'm proud to say I'm raising four fair junkies as well. All my kids love going to the county fair, and they look forward to being there from morning chores to evening chores and everything in between.

[ANGELA WALLICK] A couple of years ago, Justin got sick the first night of fair, so we got horses there and checked in and got through the horse show and Justin got sick and spent the rest of county fair week in the hospital and so many people show up and everything is taken care of and all of these people who just love your kid and make sure that things are done. It really is a community and people who really love your kid and want them to get better.

[ERIC HANSON] Working with all of my cousins, since there were ten cousins within a mile of each other, our parents worked together on a hog farm and grain farm. Working with all of them on our pigs and getting them ready for the county fair. My family kind of took over the swine barn at the Story County Fair. At one point we have ten kids, all with 5 hogs there, some barrows and some gilts, and we were showing against each other. And the Hansons were kind of a force to be reckoned with at the Story County Fair.

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[NARRATOR] Through the hardships of the Great Depression and the uncertainty of World War II. 4-H clubs became more than educational programs. They were one of the ties that bound communities together. The organization's four leaf clover stood as a quiet constant in unsteady times, and with it came an enduring pledge.

[FLORINE SWANSON] I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service and my health to better living for my club, my community, my country and my world.

[NARRATOR] America continued to change with startling speed. More people exited farms and cities and suburbs spread all around. Technology transformed daily life and 4-H membership grew more diverse, extending opportunities across race, geography and background. The question facing 4-H was profound. Could an organization born in rural schools continue to be relevant? Leaders returned to one of Jessie Field Shambaugh’s central ideas, learning should meet young people where they are.

[MITCH HOYER] When I grew up coming through the 4-H program in the 1960s and 70s, the primary way was the community based 4-H club. Those clubs still exist and they're in a very important part of our program because it's also a way that young people can be involved or over an extended period of time. As things have progressed in the last 50 years, we know that we need to reach young people in different ways. And that community, that long term experience that I had, may not be right for you, or it may not be right for someone else.

[EMILY SAVERAID] We are learning by doing. We are getting our hands dirty. We are pursuing our own goals on our own timeline, right? In school, we learn what's in front of them. In 4-H, we get to learn what we're passionate about.

[PAUL LASLEY] Yes, it's changed, but the idea of seeing is believing, of being able to touch and feel, getting new ideas implemented to improve the quality of life for youth and that model has still continued today.

[PAMELA RINEY-KEHRBERG] The organization had to move along with rural America because the needs of rural America change. And when needs change, children's interests change. The program really did develop and change with the needs of the community.

[NARRATOR] Today, 4-H embraces science and engineering education. Robotics has replaced the plow, yet the process remains familiar. Experiment, learn and improve. Jessie Field Shambaugh’s belief in hands on discovery has found new life in labs and on computers.

[DR. SARA NELSON] For STEM, it's science, technology, engineering and math. I include agriculture in my definition of STEM. We've been looking at how can we support what's happening in the schools in some of our out of school time programing for STEM? We've also just been looking at what is the wonderful history that 4-H comes with for STEM and how we can build and grow that portion of it. So not only the great things tied to agriculture that 4-H does, but also coding, engineering, you know, you name it, math, anything that we think can help people really live productive, happy lives.

[ALEXA GROFF] Everything is changing. The science is changing. Math is involved in literally everything we do. Maybe not algebraic equations, but everything we do. And so getting kids to realize that they're already doing STEM and the things that they like, they might think, oh, I don't like science or I don't like math, but they're really doing it in everything that they do.

[CHARLIE ANDERSON] Before I figured out there was a STEM arm of it, I thought it was just all agriculture and like county fairs and all that type of stuff. You know, agriculture is cool, although it's not like my main area of interest. I don't know that I would have really gotten involved with it if it weren't for robotics. I mean, other stuff sounds really cool, but this was just the thing that was like, yes, I'm doing it.

[ALEXA GROFF] STEM in Motion is a super personal project for me. I love to travel, and I used to take high school science kids from my class, and we'd go on a summer trip somewhere. When I got here, I was like, man, I really have that opportunity to like excite these kids and let them see STEM in a different form, not just here in Iowa, but broadening their horizons. And so last year we got to go to Iceland, so in 2026 and that was just absolutely amazing.

[CHARLIE ANDERSON] I had a really fun time there. It was really cool. I would go back if I could, whenever I could. I went and saw a lot of cool things. Lots of waterfalls. We climbed on top of a glacier and we got to learn all about how Iceland's geography works. All of the volcanoes. We learned about Icelandic history.

[NARRATOR] So far, 4-Hers have participated in 5 million STEM projects. 2.5 million healthy living projects, and 2.5 million more dedicated to civic engagement across the nation and around the world. Year after year, millions of young people are turning curiosity into action.

[VALERIE PLAGGE] So as a 4-H club leader, I really do hope they see the power of giving back to their community. And our club, the towns that we cover are a town of 400, a town of 200 and a town of 100. So there's maybe not as many people, right, to help and be a part of those activitie so how much more important it is that we are participating and giving back.

[JILL POSTMA] They learn independence by going to their club meetings, working with adult volunteers that maybe they didn't know. Interacting with the older 4-H members in their club at static judging day or in the show ring there, having to have that independence of leading their animal in the show ring, or taking their exhibits to that judge at static judging and having to basically sell what they learned to the judge and talk about it and, and get and receive feedback from those judges and then they can learn and grow with each project.

[BETH BUNKERS] I think it's that spark that they didn't even know that they might like that. This last week we had a little girl come to camp. She goes, I'm not an artist, I'm not an artist. And then she did, they had the help with the project. She goes, you know, I think I could be. And you know, that spark and that smile and even at the fair, you know, look how well I did. They just can't wait to share that. All that hard work has been worth it.

[JULIE OLDENKAMP] 4-H is an opportunity for kids to just try different types of projects and find their passion, find their niche. Max is very interested in the outdoors. He loves the to fish and to hunt. This year, he created a bike rack for his fishing poles that he can take his buddies fishing and so not only is he learning himself, but he's also sharing what he's learning with other people. He's not going to sew a quilt, but he's got an option to really share in different ways of things that he's very passionate about and things that he can do for the rest of his life.

[KATIE PETERSON] Some of the things that I'm really excited about are a coworker, a colleague of mine, and I started a new Iowa 4-H fishing club this year. And really what that stemmed from was we have a set of boys that were kind of looking for a place in 4-H. They weren't necessarily interested in the traditional club model, and they were looking for something really outdoors based, like that's what they wanted to do. And her and I started brainstorming and fishing came to our minds. And it was one of the things that they talked about that they would like. In the beginning, we thought about just doing it in eastern Iowa, and then we thought, you know what, why not give it a try across the state of Iowa and see how it kicks off? Our goal was to have 50 kids enrolled in the club, and we are currently adding in over 144 kiddos across the state, so that's super exciting.

[NARRATOR] Guided by mentors and strengthened by community 4-Hers are encouraged to lead, to serve, and to imagine new possibilities for themselves and the world they will inherit.

[EMILY SAVERAID] Annually, the 4-H program in Iowa reaches over 120,000 young people. That's about 1 in 5 young people across the state of Iowa. That's through a variety of delivery modes. It might be your very traditional 4-H club. It might be an after school club, it might be youth getting 4-H programming within their school day. So there's just a variety of ways that the 4-H program reaches young people across the state, with a real emphasis to reach them where they are.

[ANGELA WALLICK] It's really cool to watch the work pay off. Jim has gotten, he's really worked hard on his his horsemanship and and is a good rider anyway, but he's gotten most improved. And that's a really cool thing that you're able to see that progress. And going from a kid who's not ready to really trot very much to a kid who's ready to run as fast as he can as as long as he can. Or thinking about he did the bottle calf show through the fair when he was younger, and not being able to even move a a few month old calf around to being able to now he's got yearlings that he does all by himself and it's been really cool to watch him take that ownership.

[ELLA JOHNSON] I got involved with county council, with the Youth Advisory Committee, and then my senior year, I was on the state 4-H Council. And with each of those committees and councils, I was able to meet people and grow my skills. And I really have grown a lot and enjoyed being in 4-H.

[FLORINE SWANSON] The opportunity to go to National 4-H Congress, and at that time was in Chicago was just, you know, I had never been out of the state of Iowa until I went to 4-H Congress. And I think that was true for a lot of young people. Your families just didn't travel much at that point. And the majority of us were farm children. So lots of firsts that were provided by the 4-H program. The other big impact was being an IFYE, an international farm youth exchange. Now we would call it 4-H exchange delegate. So in 1963, I was a delegate to West Germany. That was one of the impact of our lives. And we still get together. In fact, later this month, a group of us from 1963 are all getting together for lunch and conversation.

[NIKKI WILLIAMS-SIMONS] I think it builds a lot of character, so I just don't think that my kids will be as successful in rodeo and in life if it wasn't for some of their background. You know, the legacy of their grandfather all the way down to them and 4-H.

[ERIC HANSON] 4-H is just an organization that helps you get ready for so many aspects of life because whatever your project is, there are aspects of organization and multitasking and budgeting and goal setting and communication and leadership. There are so many soft skills of life that you learn through 4-H. And as I have gotten into adulthood and look back at my 4-H years, I understand that even when I didn't realize I was learning a lot of those lessons, they've really paid off through life.

[NARRATOR] 4-H’s reach and depth are unmatched, connecting with kids in every corner of America, from urban neighborhoods to suburban schoolyards to farming communities, professionals helping young people become beyond ready.

[KATIE PETERSON] They go out to job interviews, and the first thing that we hear is they come in and they're confident, right? They've learned those communication skills through 4-H. We're told all the time that when a resume comes through and it has 4-H on it, employers are interested in them.

[ELLA JOHNSON] When I was trying to decide what major to go in for college, I was really trying to think of what I liked. I knew I wanted to go into ag, and I started thinking about the things I liked with 4-H and my different activities, and talking to people and getting those connections is something I really gained from 4-H and it led me to going into ag communications. And so that definitely without 4-H and ,y other activities, I would not have been able to get to that conclusion.

[LUKE BLAUWET] Responsibility is like the main one.

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[THOMAS BLAUWET] It's like you're responsible for an animal’s and multiple animals’ lives and making sure that they're living the best that they possibly can.

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[ADDISON BLAUWET] Kind of like ownership because like, it's kind of like you're owning your own animal kind of, and you have to like responsibility, like you have to take responsible and you have to be responsible of that animal, making sure like it stays healthy, making sure it has a clean pen and making sure it gets enough water and all that.

[JIM WALLICK] It basically gives you a bunch of different options. Like if you want to raise sheep, raise pigs, raise calves, raise horses, it just gives you a bunch of opportunities to figure out what you like best. Like me personally, I like, the cattle business the best right now. And the horses. And so I'm gonna try to go into the cattle business when I graduate high school.

[KOLBY OLDENKAMP] One super valuable life skill I've learned from 4-H is talking with adults and communicating with adults. A lot of kids don't know how to respect adults or don't know how to speak to them, just like they're normal people. They might get nervous or things like that, but when you're at the judging table, you get this opportunity to talk one on one with an adult who knows lots about the project area, and I think that's a huge opportunity for growth.

[COOPER WILLIAMS] It wouldn't have been for riding horses growing up we wouldn't be where we are, we wouldn't have the desires that we do. And it just helped us slowly through 4-H, we got more and more competitive the older we got. And then we had we had to take it to another level with a different type of tool using ropes or bronc saddles and high caliber athletic horses.

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[NARRATOR] Over time, the 4-H organization learned that its greatest strength is not in tradition alone, but in adaptation. In 1998, it extended its reach to younger children, recognizing that curiosity and kids go hand in hand.

[NICOLE HANSON] Clover Kids is a really fun and engaging educational program for kindergarten through third graders throughout the state of Iowa, and we really are trying to build some essential life skills for our Clover Kids members. So in the Clover Kids program, they do a lot of activities and lessons that focus on communication, teamwork, decision making, responsibility, just some really foundational life skills that will help them through their 4-H journey, but also in school and in life.

[VALERIE PLAGGE] Our county also does a great job of when you've been going through Clover Kids they actually have you sign a letter of intent to join whatever 4-H club. So they do a good job of tying Clover Kids that the next step is 4-H.

[JILL POSTMA] I think growing our Clover Kids program over the last 18 years has really identified 4-H in Lyon County and families seeing 4-H not just as livestock projects, but that there's other opportunities in 4-H in addition to livestock and that you don't have to be a traditional farm kid to be in 4-H.

[ALICIA JOHNSON] We didn't have Clover Kids when we were younger. So to get both of the girls involved with Clover Kids from day one. I was co-leader with that as well for the Shenandoah, the west side of the county. And that was so much fun, sparking their interest in the different things and having mock static judging, so they could get used to talking to people, because I think that's something that's very important for younger generations to be able to speak to any age group. That was a lot of fun to watch both girls grow up through Clover Kids and now heavily into 4-H. That was really neat.

[NIKKI WILLIAMS-SIMONS] I have Clover Kids that are now parents and I'm just like, look at how responsible they are. And now they're bringing their kids and they're keeping it going, you know, keeping 4-H alive and keeping it going for their children as well makes me really proud.

[MITCH HOYER] We have been looked to, sometimes more than others, as being a leader in innovative ideas and innovative programming. My Clover Kids specialist, Nicole Hansen, she and her team have created a series of very engaging, very hands on Clover Kids curriculum. When she goes and presents at one of our national meetings, she immediately gets all kinds of calls and follow up. And we know those materials are being used in multiple states. And that's just been a hallmark, I think, of what our, our people and our program has been about. We have high participation despite our relatively small state size.

[NICOLE HANSON] Since I began working with the Clover Kids program, it continues to be the fastest area of growth in the Iowa 4-H program. What we have found is that when we engage young children before they get busy and overcommitted with all of the other events in their life, they're more likely to stick with the 4-H program. They build that sense of belonging and become invested in our program. So it really is kind of the on ramp or pathway to Iowa 4-H.

[NARRATOR] One of the greatest strengths of 4-H is its ability to meet the needs of the young people it serves to be relevant in an ever changing world. The organization continues to redefine what learning by doing truly means.

[DR. MARGARET WEBER] 4-H has remained because it is adaptable. It allows people to do what they want to do within sort of their local communities and engage with one another. And that's sort of what has allowed it to sort of stand the test of time when so many others have sort of fallen off.

[ALEXA GROFF] The world hasn't stayed the same, right? And so we also have to keep moving along and keep expanding and keep innovating. And so I think that's really exciting about 4-H. We keep traditions, but we also keep moving along.

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[NARRATOR] Having ignited a movement destined to reach far beyond the walls of rural schoolhouses, Jesse stepped onto a broader national stage in 1913. She served as a field worker and educator at the YWCA, the Young Women's Christian Association in New York. Her role, to help young women find education, opportunity and purpose. In 1917, Jessie returned to the rolling hills of southwest Iowa, married Ira Shambaugh and planted roots of her own, raising a family, nurturing a community, and carrying forward her work in the place she had always called home. She chose to remain in that same landscape until she passed away in 1971.

[MITCH HOYER] For 100 years plus, our core purpose hasn't changed. We are about helping young people discover their interests, giving them opportunities to pursue those interests, opportunities to grow and learn in a meaningful way. And we're about helping young people prepare for life, for work, for college, for career, for whatever they choose to do. That fundamental purpose has remained constant throughout our time.

[DR. SARA NELSON] You know, just thinking about the fact that something that was started many years ago is still going is a testament to how good of an idea it was. Sometimes yeah, you do need people to come in and think differently. And I think that's one of the things that she was, you know, able to do because to really make change, you can't keep doing the same thing. Each person that kind of plays a role in 4-H helps that legacy continue.

[SETH WATKINS] She was really, really good about lifting the kids up. And I think that was part of what was really, really wonderful about her. What can I do to honor her legacy by recognizing all the good and all the potential in people and making sure that I'm doing my part to help them have what they need to be successful just like literally millions of 4-H kids have around our world.

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[NARRATOR] The 4-H organization looks far different today than it did at the turn of the 20th century. It reaches young people who may never set foot on a farm. It prepares leaders for challenges Jessie Field Shambaugh could not have imagined. And yet, in every head eager to learn, heart ready to serve, hands willing to work and life strengthened in health, her legacy lives on.

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[ANNOUNCER] Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum is proud to support The Legacy of 4-H on Iowa PBS.

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