At the recent Pennsylvania 4-H State Leadership Conference, 15 4-H participants received Diamond Clover Awards, the highest achievement possible in the Pennsylvania 4-H program.

The Clover Award Program encourages 4-H members to explore new projects and activities throughout their 4-H experience that will help them acquire the seven leadership life skills: communicating, decision-making and problem-solving, getting along with others, learning to learn, managing, understanding self and working in groups.

Engagement with the program is generally a multi-year process that guides 4-H members through several levels of achievement, culminating with the Diamond Clover Award, for which participants plan and implement a service-learning project in the community.

Lehigh County 4-H was honored to have two teens recognized this year.

Following are the 4-H Diamond Clover Award winners with descriptions of their projects:

·Allison Emanuel, of Laurys Station, developed an agricultural curriculum toolkit for K-5 students, including an “Ag Box” resource for teachers, which was piloted and adopted into the school curriculum.

·Payge Haydt, of Walnutport, helped establish the Pennsylvania branch of Hearts for Music, a special needs orchestra, with a long-term goal of performing at the Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee celebration.

Administered in Pennsylvania by Penn State Extension, 4-H is a non-formal educational youth development program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that helps young people develop knowledge and skills to become capable, caring and contributing citizens.

To find your local program, visit the Pennsylvania 4-H website.

If your child is interested in joining, contact Kelly in the 4-H office at 610-391-9840 or by email at kmb26@psu.edu.

You can register your child for 4-H by visiting https://4h.zsuite.org/ and choosing Lehigh as the county.