When Verna Billedeaux set out to head the Blackfeet Reservation 4-H program, she faced several challenges, not the least of which was never having had the opportunity to be a 4-H'er herself.

Growing up near Babb on the far western edge of the reservation meant Verna faced a two-hour drive to the closest 4-H club in Glacier County's Cut Bank. Verna didn't realize exactly what she had missed until she went to MSU. "When I got to ag college, all the kids had been in 4-H," Verna said, citing their experience in public speaking and livestock judging as helpful real-world experiences.

So when she returned home, she was determined to make sure more kids had the chances that she never had.

And that meant, in many areas, starting from scratch.

Overseeing an area of 1.3 million acres presented a special challenge as far as spreading the word about 4-H. Verna started up a monthly 4-H newsletter, visited the schools, planned casual, informational get-togethers and sought publicity through fun and crazy activities like floats in all the parades. She also publicized the Junior Agriculture Loan Program, in which youth can borrow up to $7000 for livestock production.

Her tactics have worked--the Blackfeet Reservation is now home to the Shooting Stars 4-H club, which has been in existence for eight years, as well as the brand new Glacier Grizzlies in East Glacier, the Little Badger Club near Heart Butte, and the Robare Club on the southern edge of the reservation.

Verna says she's been learning right along with the kids and leaders what makes a good 4-H club, and her biggest lesson has been to blend the right mix of help from existing programs along with just letting things happen.

"I like to approach 4-H for what it's really meant to be: Learning by Doing," says Verna. "Don't try to slip into someone else's program. And don't pressure kids to do anything. They think they have to have an animal--but they don't. They think they have to go to the fair--but they don't. You can be a boy or a girl, live in or out of town--we don't care. This is for kids, it's for parents, it's for everyone, and my attitude has been we are going to do this together!"

Verna's strategies for starting new clubs:

· Seek exposure--in schools and in public events and activities. Use newsletters and other communications devices. Capitalize on 4-H's association with known projects such as school enrichment programs and range camps.

· Look for communities and individuals who have shown an interest in 4-H. When Verna tried a large-scale recruitment program this summer, she found infinitely more success in the communities that had requested a 4-H club over those that she had merely targeted as possibilities.

· Make 4-H fun. Some kids have certain pre-conceived notions about 4-H. Make sure to let them know they can be from any type of background and they can do virtually anything they desire.

"Realizing the vast resource of adults that might be willing to share some of their time, talents or skills with children, I developed a plan to contact some of these adults for involvement with the 4-H program. The opportunities that unfolded as I pursued this idea were both exciting and reward.

The design of my promotional programs was to ask adults to share some of their talents for the guidance of boys and girls in the 4-H program. These presentations give the audience an appreciation of the opportunities available in the great variety of 4-H projects as well as the possibilities for the development of the youth involved to become better citizens of the community.

Adults rallied to the need for their involvement in the community and offered leadership for 4-H clubs, especially for the low income or disadvantaged youth. Retired individuals as well as busy young mothers and businessmen offered their services. Most of them provided leadership for the traditional 4-H clubs. One service club cooperated with the 4-H program and a city patrolman in presenting assemblies in the elementary schools on bicycle safety. These bicycle safety assemblies reach more than 3300 children as a special interest group.

Results of this magnitude were gratifying, but not as meaningful as watching a young accountant for a business firm intently helping four new 4-H boys choose a project of interest to them. Another precious experience is to observe a retired bank clerk gently sharing her skill with the crochet hook with two 13-year old girls. An example of tempered patience takes place as eight Jay-C-ette club members share their talents in cooking, sewing, leathercraft, crocheting with 35 boys and girls from low-income Hispanic homes. Some of these clubs also provided an opportunity for teen 4-H leaders to accept responsibilities. Several leaders were also recruited that provided leadership for children from more affluent backgrounds.

Some of the most rewarding responses to these programs were "I didn't know that" or "I thought all 4-H meant was a beef animal or the market livestock sale at the fair." Even if no leader was recruited as a result of the program, another objective was reached as the community become more aware of the availability of the 4-H program.

The migrant Hispanic families received quite an awakening to our 4-H program this summer. These children wer enrolled in a few 4-H projects in cooperation with the school district and its summer migrant school program. It was a first contact with the 4-H program for the teachers and children. The teachers were very enthusiastic about the 4-H project materials. Plans are for greater project enrollment next summer. Our county-wide group of teenager 4-H'ers included a large number of migrant children in their annual camping experience in the mountains for low-income children.

The increasing number of new 4-H leaders and the enrollment of more children in 4-H projects are a good indication, but I really feel I have only nibbled at the foothils of the mountain of opportunities available.

--William Satchrich, 4-H Program Assistant

New Club Profiles

Gallatin County, Montana

There are many catalysts for starting a new club -- geography, parental interest, a common hobby--but Gallatin County's newest 4-H club takes the cake: it started because its soon-to-be members kept getting into trouble.

These kids aren't hooligans or ruffians, but they are skateboarders, and in most parts of the country, that's enough to get you branded as trouble, even if all you're doing is practicing your sport. Businesses, parks and the city, worried about the liability for skateboarding accidents, just told the skateboarders to go somewhere else.

But, up until the Fall of 1996, there was nowhere else to go...until a lightbulb went off in Kirk Astroth's head.

Kirk, MSU Extension's 4-H youth development specialist, read an article in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. The reporter had interviewed Jay Moore, owner of a Bozeman snowboard and skateboard shop, about the plight of local youth with no place to skate. And Kirk immediately thought of 4-H.

He contacted Todd Kesner, Gallatin County 4-H agent about the possibility of a 4-H Skateboard Club. Todd called Jay; Jay rounded up some volunteers; the group lined up the Gallatin County Fairgrounds as a skateboarding location, and the club sprang to life.

Now fueled mainly by the energy of leaders Jeremy Adamich and Travis Bos, among 15 others, the club boasts 65 members of all ages and abilities. Though members' common goal seems to be simply skating as hard and fast as possible, the 4-H dimension is shining through in the form of educational programs and personal responsibilities to the group. Members of the skateboard project club do officially join 4-H and are required to abide by 4-H's standards. Jeremy, Travis, Kirk and others recently completed a skateboarding project curriculum with vocabulary, history, profiles and skills assessments.

Leaders anticipate a more structured 4-H club in the future, with each meeting consisting of a 20-minute presentation followed by skills testing and practice.

Todd, Kirk, Jeremy and Travis all agree that the 4-H Skateboarding Club has been a remarkable tool for helping skateboarders break out of their stereotypic troublemakers' role. And, the group has done wonders for spreading the word about 4-H.

"I never had anything like this growing up, and it's great to be able to give this to the kids," says Travis.

"We're getting a lot of kids involved who never would have been in 4-H," says Jeremy.

Tips for starting a special interest club

· Think of possibilities not problems. In non-traditional projects, we often focus first on all the problems, the reasons why it can't work. Instead, focus on the potentials of what this could mean for youth. You can bring in others to help you problem-solve later.

· Involve young people in setting up the club. In the case of our skateboarding club, we got youth involved from the very beginning in helping decide how the club would operate, be structured and continue. Youth themselves became the advocates for the club and brought their parents along.

· Look for a few key adults to provide club leadership. In our case, we had a ready pool of college students who also shared a passion for skateboarding who stepped forward and wanted to provide leadership. They saw themselves as role models, but also knew they needed some training in working with other kids. Extension can give them that training.

Be clear about expectations from the beginning. For the skateboarding club, we were adamant about the educational purpose of 4-H. Everyone knew from the beginning that the club had to involve some education. This insistence helped lead to the development of a unique skateboarding curriculum.