For the first time in several years, two Greene County 4-H’ers are a part of a distinguished group.

According to Greene County ISU Extension 4-H and Youth Coordinator Samantha Hardaway, Ella Tasler and Paisley Lautner are serving on the State 4-H Council. Tasler tells Raccoon Valley Radio what it was like at the official induction ceremony that was held earlier this year at the 4-H State Conference.

“It felt really good. I felt so proud because it was a pretty big process applying and the interview and I was so grateful that these were the kids that I was being inducted with. It was so, so awesome.”

As a State 4-H Council member, Tasler says they are ambassadors for 4-H, as Lautner will be representing Greene County and because Calhoun County didn’t have a representative, she will be working with the Calhoun County Youth Coordinator as an advocate for 4-H with them. She explains why she wanted to be a part of the State 4-H Council.

“My first year of state conference, I didn’t know anybody. And the kids in the green polos, the state council members were, truly the most welcoming people I had ever met. And I thought, ‘That’s cool! I want to be a part of that. I want to make a difference to somebody here. So I wasn’t old enough, obviously, the first couple of years, but when I finally was, I was like, ‘This is something I want to do, I want to be a part of something bigger, I want to plan, I want to be a part of the process.”  

Tasler is looking forward to meeting the other state council members and will get to help plan the next youth state conference, as well as volunteering at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday and Sunday.