According to Griffith & Hoppner, "the most valuable employees in the organization have a mix of both hard and soft skill competence"(Griffith & Hoppner, 2013).  Development of key technical tangible “hard skills” and intangible “soft skills” is critical for preparing youth for career and social success in the future.  Allen County 4-H believes in the National 4-H motto “Making the Best Better” by helping to build and prepare future leaders with key skill needed for success.  Allen County 4-H continues to increase skill development opportunities through 4-H Club and Project work.  

At the conclusion of the Allen County 4-H Fair Project Showcase this summer, 4-H youth had exhibited over 374 entries by 104 youth demonstrating an increase of participation in 4-H Animal Science and 4-H Project Entries by 140% from the previous year 4-H Project and Animal Entries in 2022.  This increase is largely contributed to an increase in 4-H Workshop workshops offered during the 2022 – 2023 program year.  

                Throughout their membership, 4-Her’s acquire a wide variety of “hard” and “soft” skill sets through experiential learning opportunities.  4-H Projects often represent tangible “hard” skills that 4-H youth learn through 4-H Programming and Workshops.  These “hard” skills include, but are not limited to cooking, animal husbandry, record keeping, wood-working, sewing, horticulture, arts, etc.  Whereas 4-H youth gain a variety of practical “soft” skills in clubs and other 4-H programs, such as: public speaking, leadership, teamwork, critical thinking skills and so many more (Dean & East, 2019).

As a result of the increased number of learning opportunities, 4-H youth applied a multitude of hands-on technical skills through 4-H.  These were accomplished through 4-H workshops, clubs and programs over the past year, which help our 4-H youth to build a repertoire of skills to apply in future career and social settings.

4-H Workshops offered this past 2022 – 2023 4-H Program Year included:

• Ag Academy  
• Acrylic Painting   
• Forestry Field Day   
• Chopped Workshop   
• Media Day Workshop   
• Cupcake Decorating   
• Card Decorating      
• Jewelry Workshop   
• Basketry Workshop   
• Communications Workshop    
• Capitol Experience   
• Horticulture Workshop   
• String Art Workshop   
• Crochet Workshop   
• Leather workshop   
• Woodworking Workshop   
• Pencil Drawing Workshop
• Baking Workshop

References:

Dean, S.A., & East, W.I., (2019).  Soft Skills Deeded for the 21^st Century Workforce. International Journal of Applied Management and Technology, 2019, Volume 18, Issue 1, p. 17-32, DOI:10.5590/IJAMT.2019.18.1.02.  

Griffith, D., & Hoppner, J. (2013). Global marketing managers. International Marketing Review, 30, 21–41. DOI: 10.1108/02651331311298555