You better take a deep breath if you want to recite all the contributions a young woman has already made in her southern Illinois community.
Janella Neary is a welder, a master showman, a member of her high school student council, active in FFA, a member of the Renaissance Club and the varsity Football team manager.
Along with all of that, she is chair of the Illinois 4-H Youth Leadership Team.
This team of 4-H members and recent 4-H alumni coordinate and assist 4-H activities statewide, including the Illinois 4-H Junior Leadership Conference and assist behind-the-scenes with events such as the Illinois State Fair.
They participate on statewide committees and boards including the Illinois Farm Bureau Youth Education Committee, which Neary serves on.
Neary, who grew up on a row crop and Angus farm in Red Bud in southwestern Illinois, comes from a 4-H family. Her two older siblings were in 4-H, her mom is a leader and her dad is also a 4-H alum.
“It was easy to get interested in an agriculture organization,” says Neary, who plans to study large animal veterinary technology at Black Hawk College after she graduates high school.
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At age 18, this is Neary’s last year of eligibility as a 4-H member, but she can continue her four-year term on the 4-H Leadership Council up to age 21. The Waterloo High School student says it’s her goal to be active all four years.
“It helps make me a better person,” she says of the leadership skills she is gaining.
Neary says she also learns more about the issues of the day at events including at the National 4-H Conference.
As the 4-H Youth Leadership Team Reporter, she is involved in telling the stories of 4-H achievements. One recent story was about the statewide 4-H food drive with the Illinois State Fair. Through social media and the organization’s website, she helped tell about how 4-Hers, in only three days, collected 1,300 items and created awareness about food insecurity around the state.
Her own participation in fairs includes showing rabbits, cattle, hogs and sheep at the Monroe County Fair and winning the title of master showman. She says she likes showing the animals she raised best.
“I know every single thing about my animals,” she says.
In her 10 years in 4-H, the teenager has taken part in almost every 4-H opportunity that came her way — from interior design to welding.
“Those are good skills to have,” she says.
She says there are many opportunities for 4-Hers today. When her dad was involved, it was mostly livestock projects. Now with the focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), “there are 50 projects exhibited by my club alone,” she says.
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