MSU Extension Gogebic County

According to research completed by the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University, 4-H’ers are four times more likely to make contributions to their communities, two times more likely to be civically active, and two times more likely to make healthier choices.

In Gogebic County 4-H, we believe in the power of young people. By providing opportunities to learn and lead, 4-H helps youth become informed and engaged community members. While exploring new topics and activities in an experiential way, youth build the skills they need for life.

Ironwood Carnegie Library – Partnered with them to bring GET AMPED UP! Michigan Science Center Science Fair, to Gogebic County. This was a one-day event for area youth to attend and have fun with science. The Michigan Science Center offers 10 different stations of hands-on experiments that ROCK! Participants explore sound waves, learn how humans and animals hear sounds, play some unique instruments, make sound mysteriously disappear and more! All area children welcome and this will be best enjoyed by those 6 and older! Hosted by the Ironwood Carnegie Library and MSU Extension with support from the Gogebic Range United Way!

The Eat Smart Knapsack program - for Thanksgiving we were able to give out 116 bags for 95 families that need food during the holiday break. We contacted all 4 schools in Gogebic County and let them know that we were giving them 25 spots for each school. If families have more than four members, they received two bags. We then requested the schools to keep their list confidential. This program shows the need for food assistance in our communities and how much this helps the youth and families in our communities.

The Eat Smart Knapsack program—for Winter Break we were able to give out 232 bags for 95 families that need food during the holiday break. Once again, all 4 schools in Gogebic County were contacted., each receiving 25 spots. With this break there were two full weeks that the youth were away from school, so we gave two bags per family and four bags to families with four or more members. Each bag cost about $20.00 to make. This program could not happen without the support of our generous community.

Livestock Clinics – Youth learned about the various species of livestock. They also learned how to use the grill and cook their own dinner. This year we add some cooking lessons to each clinic to help teach youth about cooking as well as animals. Clinics were held in June and July.