Tracie Montague Talks Clinton County 4H

"The project is the tool for the kids to develop life skills [like] leadership and time management. [Kids are] caring for their animals everyday, learning about nutrition, and balancing whatever their summer schedules are," stated Tracie Montague, 4H Youth Development Educator at the OSU Extension Office, located at 111 S Nelson Avenue.

Tracie, originally from Sunbury, Ohio, attended Wilmington College for her undergraduate degree. This led her to intern and explore with the OSU extension office and she later attended OSU for her masters degree.

In her position at the extension office, Tracie coordinates and runs the 4H program for Clinton County, including the summer camps, overnight camps, and fair. According to Tracie, there are over 700 kids who participate in 4H in Clinton County, ranging from age 5 to 18 and coming from various backgrounds like apartments, suburbs, and small farms.

4H was started in Ohio in 1902 by a school administrator in Clark County. The club came to Clinton County in the 1920s and has since evolved from traditional projects to now offering STEM projects and more. Ohio 4H has over 200 different project opportunities ranging in subject from nutrition, electricity, welding, livestock, sewing, recipes, scrapbooking, photography, and more. Children have the opportunity to show livestock like sheep, goats, chicken, cows, and more. Tracie stated, "We have an opportunity for everybody. We have projects for every interest."

Within Clinton County, there are 25 groups that come together a few times each month for meetings to learn life skills, and work on their projects with the goal of exhibiting them at the fair. The meetings and projects are age-appropriate, ensuring that even though five-year-olds cannot participate in the fair, they can learn from the program. Children can begin taking projects to the fair at age eight and once in third grade. Tracie stated, "I don't think there's a life skill that 4H does not provide... There's just nothing really quite like 4H."

To learn more about the Clinton County 4H Club and the OSU Extension office, visit clinton.osu.edu.