Eighth-grader Lyndee Nimer spends Friday afternoons during the school year boning up on equestrian skills, judging livestock and studying the ideal structure of sheep, horses and cattle. 

The lessons, offered through a UI Extension 4-H Youth Development program in Oneida County known as “4-H Fridays,” are especially valuable to Nimer given that she’s set a goal of becoming a veterinarian specializing in livestock. 

It’s been several years since her rural school district implemented a four-day school week to cut costs, and Nimer acknowledges she’d probably be on the couch watching TV all day on Fridays otherwise. 

“I look forward to Fridays. I get to do different activities all day long, and I can broaden my knowledge on animals,” Nimer said. 

Since 2022, UI Extension in Oneida County has hosted 4-H Fridays at its office located within the county fairgrounds at 459 S. Main St. in Malad. Having a dedicated day for 4-H clubs and activities to meet — and providing parents an opportunity for their kids to do something constructive – has resulted in significant enrollment growth in the southeast Idaho county’s 4-H program. Since 4-H Fridays started, Oneida County’s average 4-H enrollment has ballooned from 120 youth to well over 200 youth.  Oneida is one of the state’s most rural counties, and Sawyer Fonnesbeck anticipates that the numbers of participants in 4-H will only continue to increase in the coming years.  Among many of the county’s youth, agricultural and livestock training are important elements of practical education.

In addition to the livestock elements of the program, though, youth may also participate in classes on teen leadership, wildlife and artistic activities such as scrapbooking and crocheting. Youth must be enrolled in 4-H to participate in the Oneida County program, and their participation is covered by general 4-H fees.

“The parents have truly appreciated more information being taught to their kids,” said Kelly Sorensen 4-H assistant and UI Extension office manager in Oneida County. “A lot of parents still work on Friday and that leaves youth if they don’t play sports with nothing to do.”

Several community volunteers help run the club meetings and activities, making 4-H Fridays possible. 

“I’m a mom who likes to keep my kids involved and engaged in things that help them progress to become better adults,” said Alaina Schrenk, who has four children involved in the program ranging in age from 6 to 13. “There are parents always in here helping with these different activities. There is a community helping to raise your children, and this kind of creates that environment.”

Sawyer Fonnesbeck and Kelly Sorensen started the program for exactly the reasons Schrenk highlighted—giving students a chance to learn from adults in the community and find a productive outlet for their energy and time on Fridays, especially during the winter.  The Friday activities began with livestock judging, sewing, knitting, crotchet, Cloverbuds, and other activities, but has since expanded to encompass the many clubs that exist within the 4-H calendar, such as Horse Club, Teen Leaders, Chickens, Pigs, and others.  

The Extension Office is hoping to obtain an AmeriCorps volunteer for the busy fair season under a grant.  Last year, Mattie Semrad served in that role as a result of a STEM grant to the program.  The grant also provided a number of learning resources, including livestock judging kits, 3-D anatomical livestock models, Lego kits, and other things.

Lexie Evans, the leader of the local FFA Chapter, has also set up an internship program with the Extension Office to provide her students practical, on the job training in the Ag world.  Students will rotate through the position every six weeks or so, with MHS student Katie Allen having already started.  The FFA and 4-H are both the foundations of Fair Week activities, which consume the attention of many people throughout the valley in August and into September every year.

The clubs will rotate on Fridays. New for this year is a club devoted to scrapbooking, in addition to the many other clubs that have already begun or soon will.

4-H Fridays has served the role of providing focused time for participants to train and practice for their chosen Fair projects, whatever area they might be in.  At the most recent Friday event, for instance, the Horse Club held a “Stick horse competition,” which 4-H coordinator Lacey Clark admits was “awesome and hilarious!”  A course was set up to mimic the types of courses they will find waiting for them at Fair events.  “It was intense.  But it was bust a gut laughter too,” Sorensen said.  Sorensen is a font of knowledge on the subject of horses, having been involved with training them most of her life.  “There are movies that I can’t even watch.  I just sit and pick them apart—that’s not real, that doesn’t happen, come on!”

In addition to the physical dimensions of horsemanship, the participants also focus on education.  “They learn about diseases, parts of the horse, breeds, care,” Sorensen said.  “The more they know, the better.”

Like Sorensen, the adult leaders and volunteers at the Extension Office and within the 4-H program are well-versed on the topics they help with.  After the Fair was officially over last year, the Extension Office held a 4-H awards program in which the accomplishments of the participants were recognized.  Also recognized were the many adult volunteers who give their time to the organization, often out of fond memories of being members themselves in the past.  Sewing, crotcheting, various STEM projects, art, craftwork, and many other activities are provided by dozens of people who find the time in their schedules to lend their expertise.

4-H Fridays represent a strong argument for the importance and relevance of 4-H and Ag instruction in the modern age, and its centrality to a small, rural community such as Oneida County.  “We think it’s been great, and we want it to keep growing,” Sorensen said.

This article was contributed to by John O’Connell of the University of Idaho Extension Office Program, members of the Oneida County Extension office, and Enterprise staff.