Youth volunteer time to community
BY DANIEL GOODWIN

Local 4-H students recently competed in the District 5 Fashion show. From left are Thomas Parker of Hearts in Bloom 4-H, Amanda Rathburn of Footbridge 4-H, Zachary Parker (of Hearts in Bloom 4-H and David Wingard of Hearts in Bloom. Thomas won first place at the junior level in the Dressy category, while Amanda won third place at the senior level in the Dressy category. Zachary won sixth place at the senior level in the casual category and David won fifth place at the intermediate level in the casual category.

In Cherokee County, one group of children is going above and beyond to make a considerable difference in their community. They are learning to be helpful citizens through their volunteer work, such as delivering Meals on Wheels and learning useful skills through competition.

The Hearts in Bloom 4- H Club is an organization for home-schooled children taught by Wendy Emprimo. She has been teaching these children for two years and says that it gives her a great sense of fulfillment.

Ms. Emprimo first decided to get involved because the existing 4-H chapter for home-schooled students was inconvenient for parents. She wanted to make 4-H a part of home-school classes so that it would be easier for parents to get their children to meetings.

Ms. Emprimo now teaches four students from ages 10 to 16. They meet once a week to work on their projects.

She admits that there are many differences with teaching home-schooled children as opposed to those who go to public school.

"The student-teacher ratio can't be beat. They get a lot more one-on-one help," says Ms. Emprimo. "They learn at their own pace and retain more information."

Many people may assume that children who are homeschooled are not as social. Ms. Emprimo states that this is not the case.

"They socialize a lot better than public school kids," she said. "In school, you sit in the same room all year with the same kids. They volunteer, and that is how they meet people. Most of them are in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and a lot of them deliver Meals on Wheels. They are part of the community."

These 4-H'ers have taken on an active role in their community. Ms. Emprimo said they have taken on many volunteer projects. For example, last Christmas, the children made baskets for the elderly.

One of their favorite activities is Consumer Decision Making. This activity teaches the children how to purchase products based on their needs, the quality of the product, and how much is in their budget.

Ms. Emprimo's students have excelled in competion. This year, three boys entered the fashion show competion. The boys were required to choose an outfit based on the fiber content, how it was made, and the price. Then, they had to speak about why they chose a particular outfit. All three of them will be competing in district.

Two of her students will be competing in district for their entomology projects.

On April 26, some of the children will be competing in district competions. Two of them will be performing a choreographed karate routine, and one student will be giving a speech in the health category on the importance of hand-washing.

Ms. Emprimo has many plans for the future of her 4-H Club. She hopes to break away from Hearts and Bows in order to gain members.

This will allow her to teach Clover Kids, children ages 5 to 8, in addition to her older students. She will be opening her chapter to the community this August and will hold meetings monthly rather than weekly.

About the future of her students, she said, "I hope the kids continue to grow and learn and challenge themselves."