Harding family reflects on 4-H’s role in building skills, values

A young person is a seed… 4-H is the fertilizer.

A young person is a gemstone… 4-H is the polisher.

An opportunity is a door… 4-H is the key to unlock and open it.

Give Royal Valley High School senior Cyrus Harding a few minutes, and he’ll come up with a few more metaphors for how 4-H can take a youngster and make him or her into a well-rounded person.

“Instead of just throwing yourself out into the world, you’re giving yourself these experiences with 4-H that are going to help you improve your life when you’re an adult,” says the 18-year-old Cyrus, who is entering his final year of 4-H eligibility with the Mayetta Mustangs 4-H club. “You’re not just throwing yourself out there as a seed. You’re giving yourself the nutrients and the water and the fertilizer to help you grow and become way better.”

Cyrus’ younger brother, Xander, 15 and a freshman at RVHS, agrees but prefers to emphasize the “fun” part of 4-H.

“There are so many opportunities that being in 4-H can give you,” Xander said. “It opens so many more doors once you graduate from high school. You can go so many places from being in 4-H, you can get scholarships, and it’s a good way to network with other people.”

Cyrus and Xander are the sons of Scott and Tara Harding of rural Mayetta, who agree that being in 4-H gives young people a competitive edge, whether it’s in their 4-H world or outside of it.

“We were at a football game, and I talked to a teacher and another school employee, and they both gave compliments on our boys,” Tara said. “We get compliments all the time on how well-rounded they are, how they’re mature and respectful and have a great work ethic… Everybody wants to do their best to raise great humans, but 4-H just gives them that little edge. It speaks volumes to the things they’ve been able to do.”

The boys’ 4-H experience is a continuation of their mother’s time in 4-H — the former Tara Goodman was a Mayetta Mustang from the time she was seven years old, participating in arts-and-crafts, sewing and foods exhibits, as well as clothing buymanship, back when it was known as “Clothing Carousel,” and later serving as a 4-H Ambassador.

“4-H was something that I appreciated and got a lot out of, like leadership skills and time management,” said Tara, a 2001 graduate of RVHS. “There were a lot of things that I got from being in 4-H that helped me into my career. I knew that was something I wanted to be able to offer my kids, too, because I thought it was a good opportunity to be able to give them things that would be good for them as they grew into adults.”

Scott, who graduated from RVHS a year ahead of Tara, wasn’t involved in 4-H — “All I did was go to the fair to ride the rides and be with her,” he says, pointing to his wife — but he was part of a family that was big on agriculture and livestock, and that led to his involvement with Royal Valley’s FFA chapter, which he calls a “first cousin” of 4-H.

High school sweethearts Scott and Tara got married in 2005, and Cyrus came along in 2007, with Xander following three years later. By that time, they’d moved to Eskridge, where the family raised cattle, Tara was involved in leadership with a Wabaunsee County 4-H chapter and, as Scott noted, “the boys grew up around livestock.”

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