Clinton Rural Youth float commJffee and 

 trophy received for best float in county- 

 wide Black and White Show. Reading from 

 left to right — Back row, Cdward Ackmann, 

 Wi/berf Hermsmeyer, George Sohn, Jack 

 Vahlkampf Casper Richter, and Youth As- 

 sistant Laverne A, Jenne. front row, Wi'f- 

 lene Vahlkamp, Betty Jenne, Rosemary 

 Vahlkamp, Dolores Kampwerth, Mllford 

 Conrad, Jane Richter, Marforie Sohn, and 

 Youth Assistant Esther Sehuchmann. 



By ELLSWORTH D. LYON, Director 



Young People's Activities 



Rural Youth 



Plans for 



ACTION 



TIlK stronger Hural ^ oiilli iriou)).- 

 f)f Illinois plan (Infinitely and well 

 in advance the ediieatiiinal ]no- 

 L'ranis lor monthly meetings. 

 Heal education in a Kural Youth 

 grou]i is not a |(assi\e inlluenee. It 

 nnist he jdaiuied with o|)|)ortunity for 

 participation hy the memher*. I'er- 

 tinent facts must he pursued. Individ- 

 uals and committees nnist he giviii re- 

 sponsihilities for certain ])arts of the 

 program. Ihis procedure hrings in- 

 terest to the learning process and makes 

 Hural ^ onlh worthwhile. 



In develo|)ing a souiul educational 

 program the iollowing lactor.s nuist he 

 considered: (It It must grow out of 

 the needs and interests of the grou)). 

 (2l It nuist he hasecl u|)on the aims of 

 the group. I'l) It must emhrace tiif ac- 

 tivities of tlie five lpasi<- standing com- 

 mittees of education, recreation, com- 

 munitv service, pwhiicilv. and memher- 

 ship and hospitality. 



It is understood thai the ediicalional 

 program is more than the educational 

 features. When the live hasic activities 

 as outlined hv the standing committees 

 is ])ursured. all who take part in any 

 one of them is hroadening his educa- 

 tional experiences. A summer activity 

 of (Minton countv .serves as an exam|de 

 of an interesting |)roject which i)os- 

 sessed educational values. (!linton took 

 j)art in a communilv parade. |)resenting 

 its major activities in a float with the 

 theme "Steering for Better P'.ducation. 

 Hecreation. and Communitv Service." 



Here was a program which the coun- 

 tv was proud to jportrav. The project 

 liad educational \alnes from \arious 

 angles: ( 1 i It caused tlie grou|) to think 

 definitely ahout what it had to offer 

 otlier voung people and to the com- 

 munity. (2l It led to tlu^ planning of 

 an effective medium to tell the major 

 emphases of tlie organization - the 

 lloat lieing that medium, i ' I It ]>ni- 

 \ ided opportunilv for the memhers to 



work together, il) (Certain puldicily 

 had to he considered in advance. I .t I 

 There wfre recreational elements real- 

 ized in s|)onsoring the float. 



IIoue\er important as these projects 

 or the committee w«rk invohed in the 

 standing committees may he from an 

 educational standpoint, it is the educa- 

 tional feature itself that counts inosl. 

 Marshall-I'utnam recentU pre|)ared an 

 attractive program jiooklet covering 

 meeting jilans for the six months from 

 Oct. "I<> to March '.50. The introduc- 

 tory paragraph in the h(»oklet sa\s. 

 " 1 he program ])lanning c(unmittce has 

 used the committee system in ])roviding 

 for plans for each Hural ^ outli meeting 

 and in addition has selected the educa- 

 tional feature for each meeting." 

 Marsiiall-l'utnam realizes that a sound 

 program of educational features is nec- 

 essary to satisfy the lU'eds and interests 

 of farm youth who now or soon will 

 hecome memhers of its group. The 

 tiienics to lie lolloued are: Octoher - - 

 Talk Kest with competitive games. \i>- 

 vemher — Our |)lan for an ideal Hural 

 Youth meeting (to he outline«l hy small 

 discussion groups'. Decemher -- I ii- 

 derstanding your local farm organiza- 

 tions. Jarniary - Annual meeting. Keh- 

 rtiary — Behind the scenes itt radio. 

 Mareh Ideal Hural Youth program 



as selected at the \ovemher meeting. 



This grou)) hegins with the education- 

 al features as the hasic need of the 

 youiii; people and is huilding recrea- 

 tional and other aspects of the program 

 around tin's need. Vi orthv of mention is 

 the cliniaNing of the six months' series 

 with a projection of additional educa- 

 tional programs hevond the March l''.")!) 

 meeting from the actual plans of the 

 niemhership as drawn up in small dis- 

 cussion grtnips in the \oveml)er. 1919. 

 meeting. Mere is Hural ^ outh in ac- 

 tion! Here is a process of finding the 

 desires of the memhersh.ip. The grou|) 



is ser\ icing itself. Il is sohing its own 

 prohlems. 



Throughout the slate there is great 

 lu-ed for Hural ^ outh to lie on the 

 alert in plamiing its entire countv |)ro- 

 gram with sjiecial emphasis upon thi> 

 educational features of its regular meet- 

 ings. One of the purposes of Hural 

 ^ outh is to take care of the educational 

 needs of yoimg farm nu'ii and women 

 who are out of school and uiunarried. 



W hen a group forgets this original 

 purjiose it is failing to ser\ e its mem- 

 liersliip. W hen the leaders meet this 

 hasic need, they are not oid\ training 

 leaders in agriculture and community 

 life, hut thev are huilding for the fu- 

 ture strength of Hural ^ outh as well. 



There are man\ sources of educa- 

 tional topics. Begin with the local 

 county. Groups could prolitahlv study 

 local government, taxes, roads, schools, 

 health, .soil needs, the prohlems and 

 privileges of home huilding. the mean- 

 ing of citizenshi)). good agriculture, the 

 advantages of cooperatives, and the 

 |)lace of Home ami Farm Ihireau. These 

 suhjects are at the front door of <'very 

 rural citizen. larlher avvav are the 

 prohlems of the slale. nation, and the 

 world. 



There are rich resonrc<s from which 

 to oiitain information u|)on the topics 

 chosen, \gain. the local countv should 

 he tapped. The Farm and Home l>ureau 

 oil ices, puhlic agencies, religious lead- 

 ers, eililors. teachers, travelers, hohby- 

 ists. Hural Youth memhers. and parents 

 are glad to help Hural Youth groups. 

 Our own great state Iriiversitv. the II- 

 liiuiis Agricultural Association, the 

 various agencies of our state and na- 

 tional governments and lihraries can 

 sup|)l\ material upon unlimited suhjects 

 to individuals and groups vshicli come 

 with inquiring minds. Hural ^ outliers, 

 this day is yours for educational ad- 

 vancement. Become informed voung 

 men and women through vour Hural 

 Eolith educational program. 



Rice yields are reported to exceed 100 



bushels per acre in Spain, ')fl bushels in 

 Italv, 80 bushels in fap.in, 60 bushels in 

 r^ypt and IS to 50 bushels in the United 

 States. 



24 



I. A. A. RECORD 



