Sharing head, heart, hands, health
Participant now a leader
By Jennifer Gentile/Staff Writer
V acaville resident Valerie Williams' 4-H involvement has come full-circle. She joined a 4-H club as a girl.
"I had a very traditional 4-H experience," the 46-year-old said. "Home economics and livestock projects. I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot of things."
Now the mother of two, Williams helps others glean the benefits of 4-H as an adult program representative - a role she has had for 12 years. She describes her role as managing several aspects of the 4-H clubs in Solano County.
Those familiar with 4-H know what those H's stand for - head, heart, hands and health. The program began around the start of the 20th century and was intended to serve disadvantaged children and families in rural areas.
Although it has a connotation with agriculture, 4-H has evolved to meet the ever-changing needs of youth, the Vacaville High School graduate said. She added that the program has expanded to encompass areas such as computers, robotics and "whatever else the community needs."
The extensive list of projects 4-H students can become involved in encompasses skills ranging from food preservation and woodworking to photography and small engines. In all aspects of 4-H, Williams said, the idea is to learn by doing.
"All of these programs help kids come develop citizenship and life skills," Williams said, "and they do it through fun activities."
When children leave the program, Williams said, "They come away with self-confidence; they've gained skills they can use in work or in school." Her own children, who now attend the University of California, Davis, and the University of California, Santa Cruz, respectively, took after their mother and were county all-stars in the program.
Carole Patterson, director of the Solano County Cooperative Extention, described Williams as "dependable to a fault." Patterson said she knew Williams as a 4-H member and high school student, and when she was looking to fill a staff assistant position, the one-time stay-at-home mom came to mind.
"She came through the ranks, so to speak," Patterson said. "It was always something close to her heart."
Valerie Williams speaks to leaders from 4-H clubs across Solano County. (Ryan Chalk/The Reporter)
Since then, Williams has acquired "a very dense desk but a very light heart," according to Patterson. Among other tasks, she is responsible for putting out the program newsletter on a regular basis, helping clubs enroll their members and working with clubs to make sure they understand the safety obligations of being a youth organization.
"She is definitely my right-hand person," Patterson said, adding, "she works with the clubs to help resolve and mitigate problems."
Although Williams was in the program when she was young, Patterson said that has not meant she is set in her ways.
"When she joined the staff, she realized that 4-H was not going to be the program of her youth," she said. "She is open to new ideas and works hard to keep moving the program along."
Perhaps most importantly, Patterson said Williams has the experience to be a resource to the parents, children and others in the 4-H program.
"Having been a volunteer herself, she recognizes how hard it is to be a volunteer in the kind of world we live in today," Patterson said, "They can call upon her, and she's always there."
Jennifer Gentile can be reached at vacaville@thereporter.com.
