Key points:
Meagan Daniel grew up on a dairy farm in Lafayette County, spent her childhood in 4-H and later spent 12 years in elementary school classrooms. Today, as Union County’s 4-H extension agent, she draws on all three.
Union County’s clubs cover a wide range of interests. There is a culinary arts club, an archery club and a shotgun club. Several clubs focus on agriculture, some of them on a single species — swine, rabbits, horses or beef cattle. Others take a broader approach and might devote one meeting to agriculture and the next to art.
Daniel said 4-H nationally is pushing an initiative called Beyond Ready, which aims to prepare young people for the workforce, whether they head to college or into a vocational career. Locally, she said, that means building life skills such as communication, leadership, self-awareness and self-motivation.
