A walk through the buildings at the Johnson County fairgrounds will show hours spent working on decorating cakes, microwaving foods, sewing outfits and quilts and showing off photography skills.
The projects on exhibit at this year’s fair show how archery, genealogy, farming, Legos and other projects have captured the imaginations of more than 1,000 local students.
A stroll through the barns at the fairgrounds shows off months of hard work by students training and caring for livestock as part of their 4-H projects.
What fairgoers see when they are looking at 4-H projects this week represents hours of hard work that some started a year ago. Showing projects at the fair is a capstone for local 4-H’ers who have used the last year to sharpen their skills and to prepare for their work to be judged by professionals and seen by thousands.
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About 1,250 students have produced almost 5,000 4-H projects for the fair this week, said Heather Dougherty, extension educator for 4-H Youth Development.
“The fair is kind of a ‘show us what you learned,'” she said.
Enrollment in 4-H begins in October and lasts until January of each year. Some students start their projects before they are even technically enrolled, Dougherty said.
Noelle Bryan, 13, a home-schooled student on the southside, started the genealogy project she has presented at the fair a year ago.
Last summer, her family traveled to Minnesota so she could take photos of an ancestor’s grave site for her project. The entire family ended up sharing lunch with family members in the state that they had never met. The project was one of five she completed for the fair this year, she said.
Students who enroll can pick a 4-H Club, with most clubs meeting monthly. Club meetings offer advice on projects from mentors. Professionals will speak at club meetings, and clubs will often do community service projects around the county.
Then, 4-H’ers can spend time at home or in their family’s barns working on 4-H projects that will be judged and presented at the Johnson County Fair in July.
Each 4-H’er has about 150 project ideas to choose from, although projects in arts and crafts, photography and food remain the most popular in Johnson County. Students who do not find their niche in the 150 project ideas, which range from cooking to showing animals to building with Legos, can apply to get their own idea added as a project category, Dougherty said.
The goal is for students to use 4-H to learn new skills, supplementing what they learn in school, or to give students lessons they cannot learn anywhere else, she said.
Laura Fundenberger, 13, a home-schooled student from the southside, completed 11 projects for the fair, that range from animal science to leather goods to drawing, she said.
“(4-H) is learning skills you didn’t know you had or needed,” Fundenberger said.
