When you think of 4-H, what do you picture? Perhaps kids at the county fair. What about a statewide mental health program created by a student?
Eighteen-year-old Norah Carter from Gibsonia, Pa. has been helping hundreds of other young people on their mental health journeys. She made national headlines after being one of four teens in the country to win the 4-H Youth in Action award.
Her programming, which focuses on mindfulness, positive coping skills, decision-making, depression and anxiety, earned her title of 4-H Spokesperson for the Healthy Living Pillar. Her virtual weekly workshops were offered to students from cities, suburbs and even incarcerated youth.
Having grown up with a disability, Norah’s advocacy stems from her life experiences and she is able to help others facing similar challenges. Part of the reason she thinks her program was a success is her ability to relate to other young people. With a chuckle, Norah said she was a proponent of the idea that kids are smart.
“If you give kids the ability to talk about their own problems and discuss it in an intelligent way, they will realize that and do it,” she said. “And so I made sure to have plenty of room for them to participate. And when you give people that space to have an opinion on something, they're much more willing to participate in the thing because they feel like their voices are heard.”
Norah has been in 4-H since she was eight years old. She started taking horseback riding lessons as an alternative to physical therapy. President and CEO of the National 4-H Council, Jennifer Sirangelo said that the organization was impressed with her initiative and leadership while helping 4-H make young people’s mental health a priority.
“What stood out about her was, first of all, all of her contributions and certainly the way she has uniquely taken her experience, her own challenges, and turned that into a way to contribute to others and to better the 4-H program, which is extraordinary.”
Norah will spend the rest of the year engaging with young people and meeting community leaders as a spokesperson for 4-H.
