For https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-279-5-minute-freewrite-wednesday-prompt-eagle-scout

EAGLE SCOUT.

So, I feel ambivalent about Eagle Scouts.

On the one hand, I have known kids who were very nice kids who were very proud of becoming Eagle Scouts, and I don't want to take anything from them or make them feel bad in any way.

On the other hand, the much bigger hand, I have so many problems with scouting, and think it ... well

To phrase what I mean to say positively: 4-H!

4-H is an exceptional youth leadership organization. I tell everyone that they should get involved in 4-H. It ... here

4-H is an organization that does not discriminate on the basis of gender. That must be emphasized, not because it is the most important part of 4-H, but because I can't imagine any youth organization discriminating on the basis of gender and still being an accepted part of our society. 4-H has never discriminated. It has always been a co-ed organization because guess what:

EVERYONE is capable of leadership.

It also has a really cool history. Back around the time 4-h was founded, several important agricultural advances had been made but were slow to be adopted by farmers. Rather than trying to con-

That's my time, but I have so much more to say about 4-H, so consider the rest of this just a regular post.

4-H

Source: https://4-hhistorypreservation.com/History/Clover/

4-H began as a means to get new agricultural ideas into practice. Small farmers who may have been resistant to changing the way they had always done things were more likely to listen to their kids! County Extension agencies, which served these communities, hosted the youth program, and in it rural kids could learn new farming practices and compete in county fairs with their produce and livestock.

Since then, 4-H has grown to become a youth leadership program that, while still central to rural life, is relevant to all kids! Organization happens on the community, county, state, and national levels, and is all youth-run, with support from adult volunteers (and some professional support).

Most people get involved at the community level with clubs! Both @stinawog and I were 4-Hers as kids, and saw two different ways of organization. Her county's clubs were all organized around interests, so the communities were, for example, Adventure and Horses, and she belonged to several of them. My county's clubs were location-based, so I was in the Farmington Swampbusters (so named because there was a big swamp in our township, and we cleaned it ever year, hauling out trash that litterbugs had dumped there) there was also the Kettle Moraine Kids, named after a beautiful geographic feature in their township, and several others. Within our community club, each kid was in several projects, which were their interests. Every year, I took horses, geese, and drama, and at least once over the course of my 13 year 4-H career I took woodworking, archery, small engines, and self-determined (which I used to show off my Magic the Gathering collection).

Oh! The kiddo is awake! I have so much more to say! About meeting our House of Representatives reps and going to Washington D.C. About how much the State 4-H Drama Company changed the trajectory of my career and has inspired me to create collaboratively. About organizing the Washington County 4-H Drama Company with my dad, which is still going. About about about!
But GTG