Mason County 4-H members travel to MSU, Washington, D.C. 

Mason County 4-H members travel to MSU, Washington, D.C. 

Mason County 4-H recently sent youth to the Washington, D.C. area and Michigan State University. Three participants spent a week at the National 4-H Center in Chevy Chase, Md. for the Citizenship Washington Focus workshop, a weeklong legislative and citizenship workshop for exceptional youth to learn about government, the history of the United States, and what it means to be an American.

The three youth were also among 16 who participated in 4-H Exploration Days at Michigan State University in June. For 2 ½ days, participants ages 11 to 18 lived in dormitories, navigated the campus, and took classes like regular college students. Classes included rocketry, mountain climbing, sailing, animal search and rescue, and more. 

Eli Shoup, Alexandrea Root, and Ethan Funke, were able to join the Michigan delegation — a total of 42 youth — as they journeyed to Washington, D.C.  On the way to Washington, the delegation made its first stop at Gettysburg, Penn. to explore the town and later receive a guided tour of the battlefield that played such a part in one of the darkest periods of our nation’s history.  Upon arriving at the National 4-H Center, over the next several days, delegates took part in workshops designed to educate the youth on government and legislation and took part in numerous tours of museums and monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  Mason County Delegates were also able to have a personal sit down meeting with representatives Bill Huizinga and Jack Bergman as well as meet US senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters.