Photo courtesy of Washington County 4-H.

National 4-H Week celebrates how the organization provides hands-on learning and leadership opportunities to empower youth later in life and their careers.

One Washington County 4-H volunteer has made a career out of his youth experiences and seeks to guide the next generation of agricultural producers. Brandon Freel is a livestock judging coach and leader for the Limecreek Livewires club. Freel’s passion for livestock judging was cultivated by the club as they require their members to take part at the county fair. Freel received his undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Texas, where he taught for five years. Upon moving back to Washington County, Freel shares how he got “volun-told” into returning to the Limecreek Livewires, “I got asked to judge our communications day for our 4-H club about four years ago and then I got up to give a quick summary of the presentations I heard, and then my former leader announced me as a new leader. And so everybody else was just as shocked as I was, but I’ve kind of taken that on and really ran with it. I really enjoy helping these kids out and seeing that they succeed.”

Freel’s proud to help carry on a local tradition of strong youth livestock judging, which teaches skills including extemporaneous speaking, decision making, and writing shorthand. He’s also excited for the junior team of Carmen and Greta Sieren, Iris Peterson, and Anna Nafzinger who advanced from the state livestock judging contest to compete in Denver this coming January. You can hear more from Freel during today’s Halcyon House Washington Page on air and at kciiradio.com.