New Student Enrichment Program Aims To Make Learning Fun

Young kids in Mount Vernon looking for some hands-on leadership experience this summer have a new outlet. A group of Mount Vernonites have started a 4-H club that aims to help kids grow developmentally and help their community.

Across the nation 4-H clubs organize activities that teach students about a wide variety of topics, from stem cell research to the benefits of exercise. But students don’t sit in a classroom all day listening to a lecture  instead they “learn by doing.” 

Their goal is to pursue activities that give them an opportunity to develop practical skills that could help them later in life.

“4-H is a great way to develop time-management, organizational skills, and leadership skills,” said Cheryl Fuentes, a parent and a club organizer. “As a former 4-Her, I understand the benefit of empowering the kids to lead their club and “learn by doing.”

The 4-H club was originally created and administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), to help members understand the importance of agriculture farming, animal sciences, and the use of natural resources in science and technology.

Now, it has expanded to a network of clubs that boasts 540,000 volunteers, 3,500 professionals, and more than 60 million alumni, according to its website.

For Victor Fuentes, a rising 6th grader at , the club allows him to take charge of his own education.

“We get to have a say, instead of our parents [dictating] and deciding,” he said.

Each month the club chooses a new topic to focus on that will help them improve themselves or be a resource to people in the surrounding community.

This month the theme is a “Taste of Sports,” which aims to encourage kids between the ages of 9 and 18 to get involved with physical activities such as biking on the, or playing a game of baseball or soccer.

“The club is different from other clubs where get to choose our own eight or nine areas to focus on,” said Fuentes.

Recently the 4-H club took a state-funded field trip to The Lamb's Quarter farm in Owings, Maryland where they learned about plant and agriculture farming, and animal resources. The club also plans to attend an event at Frying Pan Park and Chantilly Park, where members will have the opportunity to win awards for some of their science projects.

The club has also teamed up with the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT) to work on a stem cell research program. By visiting agriculture schools such as VT, members like Fuentes and St. John, are given information that may help them pick a college or a major.

“We have a say in things, which is not like Girl Scouts, and we get to improve on what we know,” said historian of the club, Margaret St. John.’

 The club meets Thursday evenings through August 4 from 6:30-8:00 p.m.