The 2017-2018 brought a new face to Gateway Christian Academy as Mrs. Brandy was invited to start a 4-H Club and a Cloverbud Club afterschool. Over 50 youth enrolled in the Gateway 4-H Club and over 50 joined as Gateway 4-H Cloverbuds. The 4-H program became the first and only extracurricular offering at the school. This can be attributed to years of building the program and the program's excellent reputation for positive youth development within the county. 

Through an approach that brought multiple, sequential learning experiences to the Gateway youth, the regular Gateway 4-H Club met weekly. They did monthly units in their club, allowing them to experience lessons in the areas of Food & Nutrition, Natural Resources, Financial Literacy, Leadership, Health & Wellness, and Animal Science. 

Though the size of the group presented a challenge, in the long-term, it was advantageous. With 3rd through 8th graders, eventually the older 4-H'ers found the leadership skills they needed to pair up with younger 4-H'ers to help club meetings run smoothly. 

The Gateway 4-H Cloverbud club experienced many highlights, including a visit from Extension Associate Professor Terry Conners, who presented his Wood Magic forestry program. Cloverbuds and 4-H'ers came together for a visit from the Reptile Zoo of Kentucky where never before seen critters were brought into the school gym. The club incubated chicken eggs and some of the youth were able to take chicks home and start chicken farming! The club hatched butterflies and learned all about metamorphosis. The 4-H Cloverbuds released the butterflies on a beautiful spring day, symbolizing the growth that the youth had experienced in just a short but really involved school year.