National 4-H Week Members Spotlight: Tygan Fischer & Ryan McKeown

By Wendy Sweeter, SDSU Extension 

4-H Educator - Lincoln County

Two Lincoln County 4-H members attended the 4-H Citizenship Washington Focus trip this past summer.

Tea Area High School junior Tygan Fischer and Harrisburg High School senior Ryan McKeown represented Lincoln County at CWF held in June. Fischer wanted to apply for the trip to meet new people.

“I really thought it would be a good way to get out of my comfort zone, get out of South Dakota for a while and be a good way to meet new people, make new friends,” Fischer said.

McKeown saw it as an opportunity to learn some history about the nation’s capital.

“What really enticed me was learning the history behind these monuments and these buildings,” McKeown said.

In addition to learning about history and touring the monuments, they learned about government. They spent time learning about government in groups with 4-H’ers from other states and even some who came from an Army base in France.

“There was also a lot of community activities at the hotel so I got to meet a ton of people from all across the country form 4-H from different states,” McKeown said.

McKeown has been a member of the Little Rascals 4-H Club for nine years. He has participated in communications project, special foods and woodworking. The communication skills he has learned have already come in handy.

“Just knowing how to communicate is a very valuable skill that you can use at any stage of your life,” McKeown said. 

“The communications project has really helped me to grow not only my presentation skills, but my communication skills in general - having conversations with my parents, my peers, my teachers, whoever that might be.”

When he started working on wood projects, he had no knowledge or skills in the area. However, McKeown credits developing his work ethic helped him stick with it.

“I started dabbling in carpentry and woodworking exhibits and I had no knowledge about that whatsoever so it has taught me about problem solving and how to teach me new things,” McKeown said.

Fischer is a member of the Dakota Lassies & Rangers 4-H Club and has been in 4-H for eight years. He has participated in dog, rabbits, poultry, woodworking and glass projects. He said his favorite projects are dog and woodworking. He enjoys working with his German Shepherd, Nova.

“I really feel accomplished when I see that best of show on my woodworking projects,” Fischer said.

This year was his first year with poultry and rabbits. He learned how to show them and get them ready for achievement days.

Fischer and McKeown encourage other youth to join 4-H because there’s something for everyone.

“4-H is just so diverse. You can enter any project area. I’ve seen drawings to cattle showing,” Fischer said.

“Personally I learned how to cook through the special foods program. There’s something for everybody. There’s so many aspects of 4-H I think that everybody can get something out of it,” McKeown said.

If you are interested in joining 4-H, contact the Lincoln County 4-H office at 605-764-2756 or Lincoln.county@sdstate.edu. Enroll now at https://v2.4honline.com.