Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report, probably brought to you by Crockett Sceptic
for this Thursday, September 25th, 2025.
Right now being joined by our good friend, Laura Heuber, 4-H program educator with UW-Madison
Extension Wood County.
Laura, good to see you.
Good to see you too.
Thanks so much for having me back.
Appreciate the time.
Always appreciate our friends from Extension and the great information.
You guys bring us and the great work you're doing in our communities.
The way at the top of that list is you and the gang at 4-H and all the great impact
you're making.
One of the things that I think is really fun about 4-H but also I imagine can be a little
tough is somebody's never heard of it and they come up to you, Laura, and they say,
tell me about 4-H.
My God, I don't know where you begin with something like that.
But I do think a good resource is the project guide that you have and that is a good beginning
to that conversation.
Absolutely.
So it's a brand new resource that I'm so excited to share.
But for those who've never heard of 4-H before and also those who've heard of 4-H and think
it's just a program for farm kids, right?
So this is a brand new resource that Wisconsin 4-H has put out.
And if anybody's interested, I just want to let you know it's super easy to access.
You don't have to be a 4-H member.
You can just go to Google and type in Wisconsin 4-H project guide and you'll be able to get
a better picture.
So James, I think when I'm here so often like I'll be racking my brain trying to think
of projects but also having the conversation and my brain doesn't always work.
I love that we have the project guide right now which can really help families figure
out, you know what, I've got three kids with wildly different interests.
What can I do with them, right?
You can absolutely enroll them in all the school activities but then you might be running
here there and everywhere for each of the different kids separately.
4-H, our local clubs are open to kids from kindergarten through a year past high school.
We've got boys and girls and all ages all mixed into the same club so it can really be
a cool one-stop shop for families.
So I don't know if that makes good sense or not.
Absolutely does.
Absolutely does.
And especially because I think again whether you're learning about this for the first time
you've never heard of it or you know what it is which I think the majority of people
out there know 4-H.
I think two real important points there of reminding people that 4-H is certainly it
is a welcoming place for those that love agriculture and all that but it's not just that.
And to that point there is literally something for everybody.
Any kid can find something in a project or an activity that 4-H is doing that could really
help them excel, help them enjoy things along with so many other great things to 4-H.
It does.
Absolutely.
So one of the things that we like to emphasize in 4-H is we have these things called projects.
And really they're just areas of interest that young people can get their hands dirty and
explore to their hearts delight.
And sometimes what they're going to dive into is something that they absolutely love and
they want to do more and they want to go deeper and they want to you know the whole run
of it.
Sometimes it's like hey this is kind of fun for now but this isn't my passion for forever.
And what the project guide will do is it will help walk you through like oh my gosh what
are the big areas.
James I know that you are really into theater right.
So let's say we've got young people who are really in the theater.
We've got this umbrella area called expressive arts.
So you know young people are artistic, your child is artistic.
What kinds of things might they be able to explore in 4-H?
And James you already know young people in 4-H can explore theater.
We have a program where we'll put kids up on stage in one act plays or skits or all
of that kind of stuff but they might not want that kind of expression.
Maybe they are just really into writing.
They like kind of being behind the scenes but still entertaining people with some beautiful
writing.
We can do that.
And so we go into the project guide you find that expressive arts area and you can see
all of the different areas.
But what I really love about this is it kind of can walk you through what is the project
like for a beginner?
What about those who are a little bit more experienced?
And how can they continue to advance?
Because right we're trying to help young people become experts in areas that they're interested
in and it's not because we're trying to make, I don't know, more cake decorators or
more woodworkers in the world.
It's because we know that when young people grab on to something that they're really interested
in, that is how they build all of the life skills to be successful.
They're going to work on problem solving.
They're going to work on persistence and like all of those sorts of things.
Working with others and so many of these things that you and I have touched on quite a bit
over the years and always worth noting because all of these projects, all these different
things that we're talking about, the underlying theme of the things that these kids learn and
grow from is accessible to every one of these projects.
Absolutely.
You know, when we take a look at our kids and we might take a look and see what are the
things that they're already interested in?
Are they already, I don't know, making TikTok videos?
Is that something that they're doing?
Well, how can we take their interest in making those TikTok videos and maybe they're doing
dances or maybe they're, I don't know, showing how to do something or other.
There is a way through 4-H that we can really help them develop that so we might be helping
them to improve their video creation and editing skills or we might be helping them develop
their dance skills, their performance skills, their public speaking skills, like you name
it and we can do it.
Absolutely.
When we were kids, there was a lot of freak out kind of over video games and well, there's
no positive to them and we've seen the reports, we've seen the data, we've seen our generations
get older and seen that yes, that you know, too much of anything can be bad and they're
not to say that every video game and every second spent on them is, you know, time will
spent, some of it is just leisure.
But we've seen hand-eye coordination, we've seen some of these other things sharing,
some of the other skill sets that these generations learned very well because of video games.
The modern media's YouTube TikTok, any of this stuff is the equivalent of that in many
ways.
It's different and plenty of others too, but is the basic core of these things that Laura
is talking about there are no different than what we learned with video games and what
they're learning nowadays with some of these other resources.
And you know, not every kid's going to grow up and maybe keep doing this or anything.
But to Laura's point again, that confidence that they build, that awareness, understanding
stuff and even just understanding technology and some of these things better is going
to be, you know, helpful to them the older they get.
Yep.
Well, and I would like to know, right, we talk about how people think that 4-H is all
about farm because that's where its roots are.
But 4-H is changing and expanding and growing to meet the needs of youth today.
So as you said, right, when we were growing up, video games were new and they were really
looked down upon.
Now there's an esports project that young people can get involved in.
And the video game stuff like we can work on developing video games that has to do with
science, technology, engineering and math, kind of that creative programming and what
have you.
And now today's youth are really into, well, you know what, today's youth have grown
up with digital devices in their hands.
So their experience is different.
It's not wrong.
But what remains eternal is wanting to make sure that young people have a really positive
experience growing up so they can be independent and successful as adults.
And so regardless of what environment they're growing up in, 4-H is there to help them
develop all of the skills that they need for success.
I'm not going to judge anybody for growing up in an age where they're holding devices
in their hands at very young ages, that's, they didn't do that, their parents chose that
right?
And so how can we help them be successful?
You know, a teammate of yours, Matt Lippert over at UW, really helped me understand
how much technology and agriculture are hand in hand nowadays as well and have been
for a very long time.
Matt was a game-changing for me in that regard and I did not know that stuff until started
interviewing and talking with him.
And so when we're talking about a lot of these technical things with 4-H, I can see a crossover
with some of the ag industry and some of this other stuff.
And again, them understanding technology, understanding these things better or just basics of these
things is only going to help them whether they go into ag or not, but could even be more
impactful if they're in the ag industry because these worlds are merging more and more.
So it's not as if when we talk about technology and agriculture, the two, they're in two
different hemispheres or something, they're getting closer and closer if not intertwined
more and more.
Absolutely.
And I think that's really an interesting point when you think about that in the arts.
Like, I feel like sometimes the arts are just shoved over in a corner of their-
Tell me about it.
But the arts really highlight creativity, creative thinking.
And that's one of the greatest things for, oh, I realized this didn't go quite right.
What can I do different?
So there's problem-solving and adaptability and perseverance to keep going.
But in science, in technology, we always need that creative aspect.
So we need minds to know how to think and function creatively as well and what better way
than through the arts.
And then I would say like sometimes we still really need those concrete hard skills.
We need people who know how to cook.
We need people who know how to sew and repair things.
We need people who know how to do all sorts of things.
I don't think we can ever talk about that's an old-fashioned skill that we don't need anymore.
So I love that we have caring adult volunteers and 4-H who are willing to say, you know what?
I learned how to do this and I would love to share my skills and knowledge with you,
with young people who are coming up and will need these, whether they realize it or not.
Yeah, definitely.
And they will need it.
Everybody should know how to sew.
It's a good one.
I appreciate you mentioning those volunteers.
It's a quick reminder to everybody out there that you have a skill set you would like to share
or you would just like to volunteer and be a part of things at 4-H.
Well, before we wrap up, let's know how to get a touch with 4-H about that and your local 4-H.
You bet.
So one of the things, the way that 4-H is structured for the most part in Wood County is youth
and families join a local club.
And last year we had 585 youth and 4-H and we had 115 adult volunteers.
So those are caring adults who are willing to maybe they're working at the club level
to help the kids who come to their monthly meeting learn a new skill or maybe they're
helping out at something like Creative Arts Day or Project Discovery Day, which is an
event where the whole county comes together to learn, to perform, to share what they've
been doing in the program.
And so we might have adults who want to volunteer at the club level locally.
It doesn't mean that you're signing up for life or anything like that.
Or we might have volunteers who just come for the county level.
So as a great example, we had the wood carvers, oh shoot, is it Wisconsin River wood carvers?
I believe so.
I believe so.
And one day they came and they volunteered for one day and they introduced something that
they really love to do with a whole bunch of interested young people.
So there's so many different ways that adults in the community can share their skills.
So yeah, by all means, like you said, get a hold of me and let's talk.
Yeah, it's a great opportunity, especially those of you that whether you maybe you were
in 4-H and you want to kind of give back or just be a part of things for the fun
of it, or you always wanted to be a part of 4-H.
It's a great opportunity.
There's never you're never too old to be a part of this stuff.
When it comes to the project guide that we're kind of discussing here too, Laura, there's
a great breakdown of what Natalie, as you were telling us what a project is and what
it means to 4-H and a great glossary, if you will, about all of this.
But I also want to remind people this is a great place to tell people how to get started
in the 4-H.
Absolutely.
How to join and how to discover what opportunities are there.
Who are the people that you contact, all sorts of opportunities.
So this guide really is starting at square one, if you will.
And if you're comfortable, right, using those resources and making those discoveries
on your own, that's great.
If you also want to have a conversation, those of us in the extension office who work
with 4-H would love to talk with you and help you find a place.
So with, you know, searching online or what have you, by all means, give us a call.
Speaking with our good friend, Laura Huber, 4-H program educator, UW-Madison Extension
Wood County, Laura, you were telling me in our pregame a little bit that you got a really
fun trip coming up.
Absolutely.
And I think this is something not covered in the project guide.
So I just wanted to share.
Educational travel is something that we love to do in 4-H.
Young people learn so much about leadership and community by getting out of their own
community.
And families aren't able to travel the way that we can travel with 4-H and in educational
things.
So in the middle of October, we are taking a group of middle and high schoolers to Washington,
DC.
And our focus on that trip is really about community development.
It's about community leadership, like how we all can be involved in our communities on
the local level.
But it's also then about civic engagement all the way through.
How does representative, sorry, representative government were?
Where are all of these things that they've learned about?
They've learned about so many different things in history.
And then they've taken the test and they've moved on.
We get to actually put those kids on the ground in the spaces.
And so they can learn and experience in a different way.
And that really is at the core of 4-H.
It's experiential learning.
It means something different when you get to actually be involved as opposed to watching
a video or reading a book or something along those lines.
So this travel experience coming up in October is just marathon and wood county 4-H programs
working together and do that.
Sometimes we have kids from all across the state experiencing the travel all together.
And so this is one of the things that keeps our young people involved.
They look forward to the opportunity to travel.
So those middle schoolers and high schoolers especially.
And 4-H, it's head, heart, hands and health.
One of the parts of that pledge is we're pledging our hands to service.
Service includes becoming involved in local governments, local boards, and it's not necessarily
government, right?
It could be a local nonprofit.
It could be the city or village board.
Like all of those things.
And so we really are working with our young people to help them learn that so they can
be involved.
And as we might be fearful of change over time and we look down upon our kids, I'm just
going to tell you, I get to travel with young people on a regular basis.
It is such a good fortune in my life to be able to do that.
The more time you spend with young people, the more you realize that they really are amazing
and our futures in good hands.
We just need to give them the opportunities for the leadership and for the learning.
Preach.
I could not agree with you more, Laura.
I'm fortunate in a much, much minor way, but working with a lot of younger people and
the teaching and some of the acting I do.
And I have yet to meet somebody who, first off, fits a stereotype a lot of people have
out there about younger people.
And that includes when we were those younger people, it seems to be a thing.
But it also, it makes, it gives me confidence in so many other departments in this world.
And you talking about this trip that you guys are taking, especially with what we do here
at WFHR and covering politics as heavily as we do.
One of my major gripes about my concerns is so many people running for office and not
understanding the three branches of government, not understanding the basics of what the job
that they're doing.
This kind of thing not only helps these kids with all of the things that you said, but
also more, maybe more, more of that generation and the generations to follow will know those
basics, will understand those things.
And I think have more understanding and empathy, not only for the citizens and the people
of their community, but for our judicial, for our government system and the way this thing
is.
I think this is a great system we have.
I think that just not enough people understand it.
And I think that there is some, whether it's fear or just, you know, concern, I think
a lot of that gets washed up when you all the sudden understand it better.
This helps with that.
And along with the fact that traveling does a lot of things for kids.
I was growing up, I moved all over the place and lived in a lot of different spots.
And while there was a little bit too much of it, maybe one of the things that it really
made me do was appreciate where my roots were and where I'm from.
Traveling doesn't always mean, oh, kids are going to want to leave.
More times than not, it helps them appreciate their own backyard.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
They understand where they come from and what was wonderful about the places that they
came from.
So I just want to thank you for letting me come in and share this.
Now is the time for families to join 4H.
The fall is the beginning of the school year.
It's also the beginning of the 4H year.
So the more you're involved, the more you get out of it.
So I would invite you to please consider Wood County 4H.
We've got 14 amazing clubs.
And I can help you get connected to one that will fit your family's needs.
What is the best way to get ahold of your Laura and certainly find out the guide here?
Yeah.
So my phone number at the office is 715-421-8439.
We are in the courthouse in suite 123 if you wanted to just stop by.
Or you can send an email to me at Laura.
That's L-A-U-R-A dot huber H-U-B is in boy ER at whiskwysc dot edu.
And of course any of this information, if you need to reach out to us, everybody, we
will make sure to get it to you 4H dot extension dot whisk dot edu is in the website.
I test this out every time before you guys come in from extension, throw it into the
searcher and it pops up right away.
So there's a lot of different ways that you can find out more and get in touch with Laura
and the gang at 4H.
Laura, we appreciate you so much.
Thanks for the time.
Thank you so much.
And thank you for joining us out there, everybody, for another edition of WFHR's Rabbids
report.
