 Hello and welcome to North Dakota 4-H, where youth are inspired to reach their full potential. 4-H is a positive youth development program that teaches young people how to contribute to their communities, make healthy choices and thrive. In North Dakota 4-H, youth choose projects that spark their unique interests. The purpose of a 4-H project is to master a subject and foster life skills such as communication, decision making and goal setting. We decided to start off the vision zero week by visiting first graders. Projects are fun to do alone and with your friends. Here are some of the projects you might like to do in 4-H. Fishing, nature trails and shooting sports are projects for you if you like to learn about the environment and earth sciences. If you like to work with tools or make and build things, you could give aerospace, robotics, computers or even woodworking a try. 4-H project learning gives you a chance to be creative. You can have fun with photography, leather craft and other areas like sewing or baking. Whatever your interest, there's a 4-H project just for you. 4-H projects are meant to be worked on over time, allowing you to build your knowledge and challenge your skills each year while focusing on things that interest you. You can use the North Dakota 4-H project guide, which describes all of the projects available to help you decide. So you've decided what you want to learn about and you've enrolled in your 4-H project in 4-H online. Now what? 4-H has many tools to help you succeed. Start with the individual project sheets. They will give you many ideas for activities and exhibits to help you have fun and explore your interests. Importantly, they contain ideas for taking your project to the next level so you can master new skills. Remember, this is just a start. There are many different ways to learn. If you like structure, the 4-H curriculum books will walk you through a project step by step. Or, you can extend your project learning through competitions, events, travel opportunities and even camps. All 4-H events are thoughtfully designed to help you develop confidence individually and in teams. No matter which method you use to learn more about your project throughout the year, you will build your critical thinking skills, develop lifelong friends and become a confident leader. Besides using any and all of the resources available to you, we want you to chart your learning path. Simply put, keeping precise records is an important life skill. When you get to be an adult, you will use records to manage your money, house and job. Once again, 4-H helps develop a skill you will use all of your life. We have a tool you can use to track your progress towards your project goals and record these experiences. It's called the North Dakota 4-H Plan of Action and can be found online or just ask your local Extension 4-H staff for a copy. You have an exciting opportunity to customize your learning by pursuing your interests, setting goals, devising a learning plan to reach your goals and finally recording your success. But wait, there's one more thing. It's important to share with your club and your community what you are learning. This is called leadership. North Dakota 4-H challenges you to grow as citizen leaders through your project work. You will find your voice and develop skills so you can address local issues and design solutions to help your 4-H club and community become an even better place to learn, work and play. For example, you may perform community service or perhaps you will become a junior board member for a community organization. To help you develop skills to lead, 4-H gives you opportunities to take part in events such as Leadership Awareness Weekend at our capital in Bismarck, 4-H Congress in Georgia or the 4-H Conference in Washington, D.C. Don't let cost be a barrier for participating. Even though some project learning requires items to be purchased, each 4-H program has strategies in place to help manage financial circumstances. Project learning is really a way for you to participate in meaningful experiences as you develop the skills you need to succeed throughout life. We are so excited you are exploring North Dakota 4-H. As you get started, make sure to connect with your local NDSU Extension staff for support.