ALAMEDA - Jason Frey's time as the president of 4-H Saskatchewan is coming to an end, and he is proud of what has been accomplished.
Frey was elected to a two-year term as president in March 2023. Since that time, he has been involved with what he called some fairly big changes, including the restructuring of the regions in the province, reducing the number from four to three – east, west and north.
The council has approved a new three-year strategic plan, and now they're working within the parameters of the document. They're also trying to redesign their record books and some of their information on the beef projects. The provincial body is also looking to overhaul and modernize its website.
Numbers for 4-H have grown a little bit this year, he said, while the number of volunteer leaders has also jumped. He believes the growth is due to growing awareness about the impact of 4-H.
"It's a good program, and the more the kids as members enjoy it, the more they bring new members to it," said Frey.
As for the uptick in the number of leaders, Frey believes it's because adults want to make sure young people are learning and gaining life skills.
Frey said young people gain life skills through their involvement in 4-H and its motto of Learn to do by Doing.
"Our members are out there physically doing it themselves. They're not watching other people do it," said Frey. "The clubs do lots of different things, helping out other people around their communities, whether it's elderly people or other things."
Public speaking is a huge aspect of 4-H. Young people have to prepare and deliver a speech every year.
"The kids have the drive and the passion. They want to get out and do things and make things better. When people look at resumés later on in life and they see there's 4-H experience, that speaks volumes to those employers that these kids are definitely ones they want to hire and look at. It's a really good and well-rounded program," said Frey.
The beef component is a big and well-known part of 4-H, but Frey points out there are other options. Light horse is a common one, but there's also sheep and chickens. For those who don't have livestock, options include cooking, mechanics, scrapbooking and sewing.
There are also avenues to meet new people and make new friends. For example, on Nov. 15, District 41, which encompasses the southeast corner, came together for the fall rally. Youths enjoyed a potluck supper, played games, and had fun and met members from the other clubs.
Throughout the year, they participate in judging competitions on everything from cookies to flowers to cattle, enabling them to learn how to compare and rank items while providing sound reasoning for their selections.
4-H also has scholarship opportunities for graduating members and travel opportunities. A recent membership forum was held in Ottawa.
"It gives kids opportunities to get out and about across the country to see different things and meet different people."
The Saskatchewan 4-H transformed its annual general meeting into a youth conference, with different speakers who educated the young people on agriculture and other topics. A big dance is a highlight of the event.
"We run a 4-H camp in the summertime, a north one and a south one, and the kids always look forward to going to 4-H camp," said Frey.
A provincial 4-H show was introduced in the summer. Anybody who showed cattle at their achievement day was invited to bring their steer with them and show it one last time while meeting kids from across the province. In 2025, it will happen in Yorkton during the provincial judging competition.
"This year we want to bring sheep into it, and the goal is to try to bring in as many projects as we can from archery to whatever we can get, and give kids a chance to show off what they worked at all year … and to meet kids from across the province."
Frey is glad he had the opportunity to be the provincial 4-H president, because it's a very rewarding organization, and to see kids have fun and succeed at what they're doing is "awesome", he said.
