by Suzi Taylor
From the 1998-99 4-H Clover Project Selection Guide

The More Things Change...Records Then and Now

In 1943, Jeanette Steingruber was 12 years old and a first-year 4-H'er in Willow Creek .Like many girls her age, she took the clothing project as part of the Thrifty Needle Club. In Jeanette's day, some parts of 4-H were similar to the way they are now: the club members had informational meetings, sewed projects and exhibited at the fair.

But the world was pretty different then. World War II was going on, and everyone in the country--including young 4-H'ers--was asked to help out. In Jeanette's record book (yep, they had them back then!), she was asked to record her "war activities" right after her project summary. Jeanette had helped salvage 20 tons of iron at a value of $75 and 3 rubber tires valued at $6. She owned a $50 war bond, and helped repair farm machinery and household equipment around her home.

In today's world, such wartime activities aren't an issue...but record-keeping is still a vital part of the 4-H learning experience. To make record-keeping just a little bit more fun, in 1997, a committee of 4-H volunteers, county agents, and 4-H specialists met to revise the Montana 4-H record keeping system with a goal of making it more youth-friendly. The committee began by interviewing several hundred young people to get their ideas on how to make records more fun and interesting.

"We held a number of focus group interviews around the state, and everyone agreed that some things needed to be changed," said Kirk Astroth, 4-H youth and curriculum development specialist.

Through the process of these interviews, Nick Shrauger, one of the members of the records book task force and a Gallatin County 4-H volunteer, found that "young people wanted the records simplified and made more interesting. When you realize that nearly 80% of our members are 12 years of age or younger, we needed to develop a record keeping program that appealed particularly to this group of youth. The goal was to create youth-oriented records so that our youngest members got used to keeping timely records right from the beginning," he said. "Then, as older members, they will have already developed this skill and will be able to expand their records to meet their needs."

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