In this episode, Kayla Emmerton, Ontario Youth Advisory Committee Representative tells us about her experience on this national committee and her trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia for the 4-H Leadership Summit in April 2022. Here's more about Kayla:

Kayla Emmerton has been part the Peel 4-H Association for 11 years, completing over 70 projects. Throughout her 4-H career, Kayla has held many leadership positions, including Club President, Vice President and Press Reporter, as well as serving as the 2019 Peel 4-H Ambassador. She also had the opportunity to attend the U.S National 4-H Conference in 2019 and is a Provincial Go for the Gold champion. 

In her second year as the Ontario Representative for the Youth Advisory Committee, Kayla holds the position of Vice Chair and sits on the 4-H Canada Board of Directors. Kayla is currently in her second year at Queen’s University, pursuing a degree in Concurrent Education. 4-H has fueled her passion for leadership, which she is excited to develop further as a prospective educator.

Did you know the first Go For The Gold game was played in 1982 when it was called Reach For The Top? Go For The Gold is 4-H's trivia style competition where youth ages 9-21 compete locally, regionally and provincially for the title of Go For The Gold champion. 

In this episode we learn about the history of Go For The Gold and what to expect in 2022, hear Go For the Gold sponsor, John Tayler, President, Ontario Mutuals and sit on the sidelines of a short Go For The Gold game played by John Taylor and Christine Oldfield, Executive Director, 4-H Ontario. Listen to hear who wins! 

Join us as we learn about our four 2022 4-H Ontario ambassadors: Allison French, Dougie Robinson, Ashley McClellan and Rhiannah Gallagher. Looking for an energetic 4-H'er to be part of your next event? Request an ambassador for your 4-H event on our website here 

The 4-H Ontario Ambassador program is proudly sponsored by FS. 

Laurie Farquharson of Middlesex 4-H Association became the new Ontario 4-H Council president on March 26, 2022. Laurie has been a 4-H volunteer for over 20 years and has worn many hats throughout this time from club leader to association executive, co-chair of multiple provincial committees and Director on the Ontario 4-H Council. She was a 4-H member in the North Simcoe 4-H Association and continued participating in clubs through university where she received a Bachelor of Applied Science degree.

Learn about Laurie and her passion for 4-H in this episode!

Head, Heart, Hands and Health, a History of 4-H in Ontario was released in 1994 as part of the celebration of 4-H Ontario's 80th anniversary. In this episode we look at the chapter called, "A Place Called Home" regional histories of 4-H in Ontario. When this book was written, the province was divided into 16 council districts and in this episode we hear about Region 1: Kenora, Rainy River, Thunder Bay and Region 2: Cochrane, Temiskaming. 

In this episode, 4-H Volunteer John Drummond joins us to chat about the virtual cooking clubs they have been hosting for youth across the province. If there was a silver lining of the pandemic, this would be it. Three years ago none of us could have pictured over a hundred 4-H'ers logging in over zoom on a Saturday morning to cook a delicious meal for their family. Listen and learn with today's episode. 

More about John Drummond

Born and raised in Smiths Falls, Ontario, John Drummond is a proud product of the Lanark and Leeds 4-H programs. Now in his 37th year as a leader in Waterloo Region, John has been active with many clubs, including Paintball, Dairy, Veterinary, and the Kitchener Market 4-H Club. John was the President of the Ontario 4-H Council in 2006-08, Syngenta Arbor Award Winner in 2006,  and Canada's 4-H Volunteer of the Year in 2013.

4-H Ontario is pleased to announce two NEW projects and one UPDATED project will be coming to you in 2022. In this episode, Elizabeth Johnston from 4-H Ontario joins us to chat about each of these projects 1) Technology and the World Around Us (NEW), 2) Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NEW) and 3) Goat (UPDATE). 

Technology and the World Around Us - This project provides a great introduction into the world of technology and how it affects our everyday lives by looking at new and emerging technologies such as robotics, GPS, genomics and precision agriculture. This project examines the implications of new and emerging technologies in the agri-food sector, such as decreased environmental impact, cost reductions, reduced labour requirements and production efficiencies. The development of this project resource has been made possible through the support of funding provided by the Stanley Knapp Foundation and Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship - This project has been designed for the “go-getters”, the enthusiastic 4-H members across Ontario who want to make a difference. The difference may be in seeing a need or a problem and starting a new business venture. It may be about beginning a new service or event in the community. It may be about being a better employee or student. Go-getters carry an entrepreneurial spirit. This project begins by looking at successful Canadian entrepreneurs and innovators and the characteristics and skills they possess. The project then challenges 4-H member how to better develop what it takes to make a difference. The development of this project resource has been made possible through the support of funding provided by the Grand River Agricultural Society.

Goat - The goat industry is a growing industry in Ontario with increasing demand for goat milk, cheese and other dairy goat products as well as chevon (goat meat). This project has full sections on health, nutrition, housing, reproduction & genetics and the business of goat farming including marketing & regulations. The development of this project resource has been made possible through the support of funding provided by Gay Lea Foods Co-Operative Ltd.

2022 Cloverbud releases - In 2022, the following three Cloverbud Units will be added to the Year One curriculum: Goat, Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Technology & the World Around Us. The development of these Cloverbud Units was made possible through the support of Syngenta Canada.

In this episode we are joined by Evan Krebs and Caleigh Slits. Evan is the winner of the 2021 Scott Van Kampen and Don McCutcheon Memorial Award. Evan was raised in Hensall and was a member of the Huron 4-H Association. He completed projects with the Hensall Life Skills Club, Sodbusters and South Huron Sheep Club. Evan is in his fifth year of mechanical engineering at the University of Guelph. He also has a full fleet of used farm equipment and does custom farm work on 150 Acres of cash crops.

Caleigh Slits is part of the Scott Van Kampen and Don McCutcheon Memorial Award Committee. She grew up in Dufferin County on a Dairy, Beef and Sheep farm. She was involved in 4-H from ages 10-21 and completed over 70 clubs. Caleigh is now a 4-H leader in Perth County where her and her husband operate their dairy farm. In addition to the farm, Caleigh works at RBC Royal Bank as an Agriculture Account Manager. In this episode, Caleigh tells us about the Scott Van Kampen and Don McCutcheon Memorial Award and more. 

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math - did you know one of 4-H's leadership development pillars is "Science and Technology"? Though as you'll hear in this episode, STEM is so much more than science and technology and there are so many skills and learnings that come within STEM 4-H clubs. 

In this episode we are joined by four 4-H volunteers to discuss the importance of youth in STEM and the ways 4-H contributes to just that. Learn about each of the volunteers below: 

Jennifer Pollock is a Professional Engineer with a degree in Materials Engineering from McMaster. Throughout her 4-H career she completed 42 clubs, attended Provincial Leadership Camp, Inter-provincial exchange, and was a 4-H Ambassador. Since becoming a 4-H leader, Jennifer has led multiple STEM based clubs including Lego Engineering, Engineering, and Cloverbuds. She has presented on STEM in 4-H at 4-H Ontario volunteer symposiums and the 4-H Canada Leadership Summit.

Tayler Black spent twelve years as a 4-H member completing over thirty clubs on a variety of topics and participating in both provincial and national opportunities. Tayler continues his 4-H journey as a leader with the Wellington 4-H Associations and as a Trustee with the Ontario 4-H Foundation. In addition to 4-H, Tayler volunteers in leadership roles with various other community organizations including the local fair and pipe band. Currently an IT Systems Administrator and Business Manager with Husky Farm Equipment Limited, Tayler pursues his passion for agriculture and technology through his work both professionally and in his spare time.

Megan Pollock has been involved in 4-H for over 20 years, as both a member and a leader. She has participated in a wide range of lifeskills clubs, ranging in topics from square dancing to international cooking to computer programming. She is currently working as a User Experience Designer at Zeitspace, a software consulting company in Waterloo.

Todd Radigan is currently the President of Waterloo 4-H, and works as a Software Engineer in Kitchener.  He has led a variety of life skills clubs, from cooking to computer programming.  He enjoys opportunities to share his passion for technology with 4-H members through STEM clubs.

In this episode, we are joined by LeaAnne Wurmli, Director of Communications at Beef Farmers of Ontario to talk about youth in agriculture and more specifically their new program – the Ontario Beef Youth Alliance, a program designed to support young beef farmers and industry youth ages 18 – 35. 

Here is a message from Beef Farmers of Ontario: 

Beef Farmers of Ontario is please to introduce the Ontario Beef Youth Alliance (OBYA) – a powerful group of individuals between the ages of 18-35 with energy and enthusiasm to grow, protect and advocate for Ontario’s beef industry. We look forward to supporting these individuals through this initiative by sharing important resources, funding and career opportunities, programming and events and a provide a place to chat with other like-minded folks from across the province.

To find out more

To join as a member of the OBYA

Beef Farmers of Ontario is longstanding sponsor of 4-H Ontario and we are so appreciative of their continued support of our program and youth across the province