4-H Matters — June 2025

From Acting Director

4-H Beyond Ready

We know 4-H is transformational and helps build a solid foundation for future prosperity. Youth who participate in 4-H emerge as leaders in their workplaces and communities. Studies show 4-H’ers are twice as likely as their peers to set the goal of being a leader and three times as likely to participate in community service. They’re also twice as likely to believe they are living a life with intentionality and purpose. Through 4-H, youth learn life skills and grow in confidence. They become comfortable speaking in public and rise to most occasions. The National 4-H Council Beyond Ready Initiative aims to help 4-H programs identify and emphasize core components of our diverse 4-H offerings that have proven to be invaluable to participants in the long term. A high-quality Positive Youth Development setting and intentional program experiences focusing on readiness for work and life, and strategies preparing youth for future pathways defines Beyond Ready programming.

Quality 4-H Beyond Ready programming embodies the 4-H Thrive Model. Essential key elements of this model include fostering a spark or passion for developing a skill or interest, promoting a sense of belonging, supportive relationships with caring adults and encouraging engagement. 4-H programs may emphasize learning areas such as agriculture, healthy living and STEM. Youth may develop organizational skills and a strong work ethic through their participation and may get to learn through real-life experiences such as internships, or summer employment. Many of our offerings will lead them to explore career and college options. Furthermore, youth may grow to become more persistent, creative, open-minded, curious and optimistic, among other traits consistent with a growth mindset.

In April, I attended the Beyond Ready Activation Summit in Minneapolis, along with 4-H Extension educators Scott Nash of Power County and Jessie Van Buren of Latah County. At the summit, we engaged in focused discussions with 4-H professionals from throughout the country to learn how to implement Beyond Ready. We heard teens share their experiences about how 4-H has helped them thrive and get them to the path they are on now. UI Extension 4-H Youth Development is now establishing a committee of about eight 4-H professionals to determine how our 4-H programming efforts will lead youth to be “Beyond Ready” for life, work and post-secondary pathways. The committee will include a representative from each Extension district and additional members of our state 4-H staff. We will devote time toward planning Beyond Ready during an in-service for all state 4-H professionals this fall. We also plan to engage our alumni to showcase how 4-H influenced their lives. County 4-H professionals are working to identify alumni who may be willing to share their transformational stories.

Beyond Ready shouldn’t add work to our already full plates. Rather, it will help us focus on and emphasize quality 4-H programming as we continue preparing tomorrow’s leaders. As Nash explains the program, “We’re just trying to be more intentional with the programming we do to make sure it’s equipping youth for the next phase of their life. Every county is unique, and we can do our own programming differently, as long as we’re focused on this Beyond Ready checklist and providing those high-quality, positive youth development experiences.” Nash can personally attest to the power of our 4-H programs to open doors for youth. His son, Morgan, participated in 4-H livestock judging, which requires participants to rank livestock in order from best to worst based on knowledge gained through 4-H experience. Morgan received a scholarship to judge livestock on a college team. Today, he is a partner with Double M Ag & Irrigation, which has stores in American Falls, Blackfoot and Aberdeen, and he manages 40 employees. Morgan credits 4-H with preparing him to be engaged in the community where he makes and defends decisions on a daily basis and talks with product suppliers and employees. 4-H prepared him to be “Beyond Ready” for everyday life.

Our Stories

Camp for Families

University of Idaho Extension 4-H Youth Development summer camps are no longer just for kids.

4-H Alpine Family Camp — a program that’s launching this summer serving eastern Idaho — will enable Mom and Dad to share in the outdoor fun and activities with all of their children.

The camp is scheduled for June 20-21 at the Alpine 4-H Camp in Alpine, Wyoming, which is cooperatively owned by some of UI Extension’s eastern Idaho county offices and the U.S. Forest Service.

UI Extension educators Paige Wray, Bonneville County, and Kari Ure, Bear Lake County, created the program with the aim of promoting family bonding.

“I always feel like families are very busy and it’s hard to find time to spend together,” said Wray, who has a background in teaching Extension classes that strengthen families. “I’ve loved to see that change in the families and see them come together and learn about their family values, letting their kids’ voices be heard.”

Ure hopes the camp experience will demonstrate to families that camping and spending time outdoors can be simple and inexpensive, while providing them a template to plan their own trips in the future.

The fee to participate is $20 per family. Each family will be assigned a private cabin, and the facilities have running water. The camp is situated in a heavily forested area adjacent to Palisades Reservoir.

“It’s amazing how close it is to town, but you feel like you’re up in the mountains,” Ure said. “You don’t need a lot of money to get away and enjoy nature together.”

Families will gather at 4 p.m. on a Friday and will leave after 4 p.m. on a Saturday. Breakfast on Saturday will be included, but families will be asked to bring their own Friday dinner and Saturday lunch.

Activities will have an Olympic theme, taking advantage of amenities at the camp including a grass field, a hiking trail with an overlook of all of the cabins and the lodge, a shooting range and an archery range.

“I do think it’s fulfilling an opportunity for families to be together, especially at a low cost, without requiring a lot of time off of work,” Wray said.

Wray knows of a few counties in Utah that have offered family 4-H camps for several years and contacted those offices for guidance. Wray plans to ask participants in the inaugural U of I family camp for input on the length of the camp, as well as other details. In the future, she would like to expand the program, offering more family camps to different groupings of counties, or even to individual counties.

“Our focus might be a little bit different than the other family camps I’ve seen as we’re trying to build togetherness skills rather than just trying to have a fun time,” Wray said.

Endowment Honors 4-H Mentor

For more than five years, Suzanne Lierz kept a sticky note inside of a cabinet door bearing the words “a beginning story” as a reminder of how participating in University of Idaho Extension 4-H Youth Development set the stage for her to excel in life.

At long last, she’s made good on a promise to herself to give back to the program in a grand way, while also recognizing the influential leaders who made her childhood experience with 4-H in Nez Perce County so memorable — Marcia Studebaker Ney, of Pocatello, and the late J. Jay Ney.

The Suzanne Groff Lierz and Rick Lierz Nez Perce County 4-H Excellence Endowment, established with a $325,000 gift from the Lierz family, will provide annual disbursements benefiting Nez Perce County’s 4-H youth. The couple has also established a trust that will grow over time, providing additional funding to the county’s 4-H program. The endowment paperwork explains the impetus for the gifts was to honor the Neys, whose guidance helped Suzanne Lierz grow in confidence and aptitude.

“So much of my success in life and as a person developed early through the mentorship Jay and Marcia modeled,” Suzanne Lierz wrote. “They saw my potential and challenged me to do hard things like public speaking, club leadership, following through on my commitments, traveling to National Congress and Citizenship Washington Focus and serving as a state officer in the Idaho 4-H State Teen Association.”

Suzanne Lierz was about 10 years old when the Neys moved to Lewiston, becoming acquainted with her family through their church. Jay Ney was the new UI Extension, Nez Perce County educator, and he recruited his wife to start a 4-H club, emphasizing public speaking, cooking and crafts. Suzanne Lierz was among the first youths to join the club.

“What I think was so great for me, I was the oldest of five children and I had 4-H. That was my thing — something I could be good at,” Suzanne Lierz said. “I attribute so much of who I am to the early challenges of 4-H, learning life skills along the way.”

She still enjoys quilting, sewing and baking — all skills she learned through 4-H. The greatest benefit Suzanne Lierz derived from her time in 4-H however, was gaining the confidence to speak before audiences.

Suzanne Lierz recalled being terrified one Saturday morning when Jay Ney took her and a couple of other 4-H youth to a demonstration competition in Kendrick. She had to give a presentation on cake decorating, which was a topic she knew virtually nothing about.

“The real value was jumping over that hurdle of fear and conquering it, discovering that I could actually get up and talk a little bit before a group of people,” Suzanne Lierz said.

Suzanne Lierz went on to travel by bus with 4-H to Washington, D.C., where she met with her congressional delegation and participated in citizenship classes. Suzanne and Rick Lierz also experienced being 4-H parents, as their daughters participated in the program. Suzanne Lierz was their 4-H leader.

Marcia Ney remembers Suzanne Lierz as a “go-getter, and she was fun to work with because she would follow through and come up with ideas.”

Ney learned about the endowment in her honor shortly after Christmas.

“It made tears come to my eyes when I realized what it was,” Marcia Ney said. “I was just speechless. It was such an honor.”

On Target for Leadership

Participants in 4-H shooting sports from throughout the country will spend five days in Idaho this summer adventuring in the outdoors and honing their leadership skills at University of Idaho’s Moscow campus.

UI Extension 4-H Youth Development won the bid to host the 2025 National 4-H Shooting Sports Teen Leadership Institute, an annual event that rotates throughout the country and prepares youth to be ambassadors for 4-H shooting sports. Eighteen boys and 14 girls from Vermont through California will be in Idaho July 29-Aug. 2.

The group will include two youths from Idaho. Applicants must be at least 14 years old and submit a resume and a recommendation from an adult. Youth were chosen based on community service, awards and academic performance. Upon returning home, participants will be asked to promote 4-H shooting sports and will support the national 4-H shooting sports platform. Some of them will volunteer to help run the National 4-H Shooting Sports Championships, hosted in late June in Grand Island, Nebraska.

Three representatives of the 4-H National Leadership Committee will also travel to Idaho, where Tami Goetz, area 4-H Extension educator, and 4-H Extension Educator Tina Miller, Twin Falls County, will serve as Idaho liaisons.

“Having this national platform, I feel like we get to be a part of an influence that’s greater than our local clubs and even our statewide contests,” Goetz said. “Our youth are going to get to meet some youth members from across the nation that they probably would never have met and have that kind of peer leadership experience, and we’re bringing it to Idaho.”

Shooting sports are among the fastest growing 4-H activities, involving 1,000 youth statewide. Disciplines include compound archery, recurve archery, shotgun, rifle, air rifle, pistol, air pistol and muzzle loading.

The 32 participating youth will stay in campus housing and will attend sessions focused on team building and leadership in campus classrooms. Another theme will be developing a 4-H story, detailing how 4-H has impacted the lives of participating youth.

Youth will spend a full day floating a 10-mile stretch of the Salmon River from Riggins, braving class III whitewater through North America’s deepest gorge. The rafting company Salmon River Experience will facilitate the trip.

Leaders from industry and U of I administrators will join the youth during a special etiquette dinner on the Friday night before they leave Idaho.

“The purpose is to have an opportunity to talk about who they are, their goals and their aspirations and to learn to have a professional dinner,” Goetz said.

Igniting Community Service

Since returning from the 2025 National Ignite by 4-H Summit, Jed Davis, of Weiser, has been spearheading development of a plan to protect livestock, poultry and small animals in his rural community from devastating wildfires.

Davis was among 19 University of Idaho Extension 4-H Youth Development members who participated in the summit, which was hosted March 12-16 in Washington, D.C.

This year marked the third group from Idaho to travel to the summit, which is open to youth ages 14 to 18 and includes hands-on workshops to raise participants’ awareness about career opportunities in STEM, agricultural science and healthy living.

The National 4-H Council also empowers youth at the summit to identify and consider ways to tackle a problem in their community through a community action planning platform called Lead to Change. Some of the youth, including Davis, apply for a grant through the program to implement their ideas upon returning home.

Davis lives on a small farmstead with four horses, a cow, chickens, ducks and rabbits. Last summer, he was deeply concerned when wildfires scorched rangeland and forced home evacuations in the Weiser area. He learned the Washington County Fairgrounds temporarily houses displaced animals during such emergencies, but many people are unaware of the option, require help to transport their animals or lack sufficient feed once their animals are relocated.

Davis has been developing a phone tree of willing volunteers to help evacuate animals and aid in transporting them to the fairgrounds during future wildfires. He’s also been soliciting pledges from residents and feed stores to donate feed to help wildfire victims maintain their animals during the next emergency.

“If a fire gets started, people need to move quickly before the fire can spread and harm the animals,” Davis said. “In Weiser, this is the biggest issue I’ve seen. I hate it when people get pushed out of their houses and their animals don’t have a place to stay, and I thought more could be done to help them.”

Davis has also begun working on a flyer to educate homeowners about fire safety.

About half of the Idaho youth who attended the summit have been working on Lead to Change projects. Participants’ costs are partially covered by a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant.

“They came back so excited about all of the different things they brought back,” said Teresa Tverdy, state 4-H program specialist. “It got them reenergized to the point that they felt like yes, they do have a purpose, and yes there are things they ought to be doing.”

Youth who attended the summit also had the opportunity to tour national monuments and historic places, and many of them had never previously traveled on an airplane prior to traveling to the event. Registration for the 2026 summit will open in August.

“That positive youth development experience contributes to who they are as a person and how they value their community,” said Mike Knutz, an area Extension educator specializing in 4-H. “A study found 4-H youth are four times more likely to give back to their community.”

4-H’ers Influence Agencies at Conference 

University of Idaho Extension 4-H Youth Development’s team of state officers recently visited the headquarters of federal agencies and partnerships to offer leaders suggestions on resolving a host of pressing issues.

Each summer, Idaho's State 4-H Teen Association officers are elected by their peers during a convention, hosted at U of I’s Moscow campus. The 2025 Idaho's State 4-H Teen Association Convention is scheduled for June 23-26. Elected officers are invited to attend the annual National 4-H Conference in Arlington, Virginia.

State 4-H Teen Association officers from every U.S. state, province and military installation are invited to participate in roundtables during the National 4-H Conference, featuring challenge questions posed by 22 different federal entities.

Participants are assigned to a federal agency or partnership after ranking their top three choices and are then placed into groups with youth from other 4-H programs. The groups are each given four days to develop a presentation tackling an assigned challenge question, which they deliver to top administrators overseeing federal agencies and entities.

“One of the groups gets to present to the U.S. House of Representatives, and students who present to the U.S. Department of Defense get to go present in the Pentagon,” said Gail Silkwood, a UI Extension educator from Ada County who served as one of Idaho’s two adult advisors on the trip.

Idaho officers who participated in the National 4-H Conference, hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture from April 11-17, included Kyra Fowler, president; Nathan Church, vice president; Anna Calahan, secretary; Cale Carver, communications director; and Ruth Galloway, activities director.

The roundtables foster an appreciation of the great diversity within the U.S.

“Now they are working with students who are from a completely different state, territory or military installation with a completely different look to 4-H,” Silkwood said. “It offers a greater understanding of the wider array of the world around them.”

Idaho had two youths assigned to work with the Smithsonian Institution, which is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex. The group was asked to offer guidance on themes, educational programs and forward-looking celebrations for Our Shared Future: 250, which will be the Smithsonian’s observance of the USA’s 250th birthday in 2026.

An Idaho youth who participated in the NASA group was asked to help NASA better engage in Earth science. The group’s challenge question focused on the concerns young people have about the future of the planet, as well as advice about using Earth-science data to influence decision-making and daily living.

An Idaho youth assigned to the U.S. Forest Service group helped present to agency leaders about ways to make audiences more aware of lands in their communities, while also empowering youth in the conservation of public lands.

Another Idaho youth evaluated digital literacy and resilience issues for the U.S. Department of Labor. The group was tasked with identifying important digital skills and ways in which the Department of Labor and broader workforce systems may prepare the current and future workforce with in-demand digital skills. They also addressed challenges surrounding digital access.

While the aim of the event is to help youth improve leadership and teamwork skills, agency officials take the advice they receive from youth seriously. A couple of years ago, for example, Silkwood chaperoned a roundtable group that presented a solution to a problem that was ultimately adopted by the U.S. Peace Corps.

National 4-H Conference participants also had the opportunity to tour monuments in the National Mall while in Washington, D.C.

Deep Dive into Dairy

A group of University of Idaho Extension 4-H Youth Development members will soon get an in-depth look at several facets of the dairy industry by attending the National 4-H Dairy Conference.

The conference will be hosted Sept. 28-Oct. 1 in Madison, Wisconsin. U of I anticipates sending a group of six 4-H youth to the conference, where they will explore dairy careers, debate contemporary issues facing the industry and participate in technical dairy workshops. Teresa Tverdy, 4-H program specialist, and Matt Fisher, area Extension educator of agriculture and STEM, lead the program for Idaho.

“There are all kinds of opportunities,” Tverdy said. “You don’t have to just run a dairy. You can be a salesman, work on the research side, work for an artificial insemination company — there are just a lot more opportunities there than I think the kids realize.”

To be eligible, applicants must be a 4-H member in at least the third year of the 4-H dairy or dairy foods project, between the ages of 15 and 18 on Jan. 1 of the year they attend the conference and first-time attendees to the National 4-H Dairy Conference.

The schedule includes speakers from several companies in the dairy industry. The youth will tour Hoard’s Dairy, which is a small demonstration dairy with Jersey cows, as well as Hoard’s Dairyman, which is a trade publication founded in 1885. While visiting the publication department, they’ll witness how a magazine is assembled and will create their own news page as a hands-on activity.

They’ll also visit Jones Dairy Farm, which is a seventh-generation family-owned food products company based in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, famous for its homemade sausage.

During a tour of Semex USA, youth will learn about the role of artificial insemination and genetics in improving dairy production.

At Craves Brothers Farmstead Cheese in Waterloo, Wisconsin, youth will tour a cheese processing facility and see a rotary milking parlor in action. They’ll also see how forage is raised on farmland supporting the dairy. Craves Brothers will feed participants lunch and dinner, and following the tour, youth will learn to square dance.

They’ll also tour the National Dairy Shrine, which is a museum devoted to dairy.

On the final day of the conference, they’ll attend the World Dairy Expo, hosted at Alliant Energy Center in Madison. The event is home to a dairy cattle show featuring some of the best cattle in North America and draws more than 1,600 dairy cattle exhibitors.

In Brief

4-H Building Fences is a new curriculum under development through which youth grades 8-12 can learn about stress management, helping others through a mental health struggle and self-care using fun, interactive activities. The cost is free. Youth will have the opportunity to learn the curriculum and skills during three-hour classes. Classes have been scheduled for July 10 in Bonneville County and June 18 in Canyon County. Classes for the southern and eastern districts can be found in ZSuite under “Building Fences Together — Be the Difference!” The curriculum was developed by Extension educators Paige Wray, Bonneville County, Tasha Howard, Canyon County, and Bridget Morrisroe, Ada County. Contact Wray at 208-529-1390 for more information.

Glenda Knight, of Gooding County, has been selected as the recipient of the statewide 2024 Volunteer Distinguished Service Award. Knight was chosen among four district winners, who were chosen from a large group of county-level winners. A panel of certified 4-H volunteers from throughout the state chose the final winner based on applications submitted by county 4-H professionals, as well as letters of support from fellow volunteers and youth. Knight has been a 4-H club leader for more than 20 years and is an active member of the Leaders Council. She has supported and encouraged youth in a variety of livestock and family and consumer sciences projects and is a huge supporter of the county oral presentation contest.

4-H Team Member Spotlight

Paige Wray was raised on a small cattle operation in Shelley. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from Brigham Young University-Idaho in 2014 and earned a master’s in agricultural Extension and education from Utah State University in 2017. She joined University of Idaho Extension as a 4-H educator in Bonneville County in 2022.

What led you to work for Idaho’s 4-H? I grew up as a 4-H member. I was in Bingham County's 4-H under Scott Nash and Marnie Spencer. I’ve always loved 4-H and knew that was what I wanted to do.

What’s your secret talent no one knows about? I started playing the violin in about fifth grade and really found a love for bluegrass and fiddle music. In eighth grade I decided I wanted to play the mandolin. In college I was part of a bluegrass ensemble for a semester and have really enjoyed it throughout my life.

What is your favorite way to spend a beautiful Idaho Saturday? I like being outside, whether that’s hiking, riding ATVs or even working outside.

What’s your vision for eastern Idaho’s 4-H program? 4-H is definitely a youth organization and it should be youth led and youth driven. For youth programs to be meaningful, they need to make sure program facilitators are listening to youth and doing things that are worthwhile and making decisions together. A couple of years ago, I had some youth in my program come to me and wanted to start a team for a competition I’d never heard of, called LifeSmarts. I did some research and built a team, and this year we got to go to nationals together.