Jefferson County 4-H member Sylvana Burgess was recently elected the 2024-25 Arkansas 4-H secretary, a 4-H state officer.
The Arkansas 4-H State Officer Team provides statewide leadership for youth, adult volunteers, supporters and more. The state officers serve as leaders and role models for 4-H youth and adults, advocate for Arkansas 4-H, provide input for enhancing the 4-H program in Arkansas, provide educational opportunities to 4-H members and leaders, connect the county, district and state levels of Arkansas 4-H and represent the youth audience to the Arkansas 4-H Foundation, according to a news release.
Burgess joined 4-H at the age of 5 when she reached membership eligibility and has been an active member ever since.
“Becoming an Arkansas 4-H state officer has been an amazing opportunity and experience for me,” Burgess said. “There was a lot of hard work and dedication put into campaigning and getting to where I am now. My state officer duties have definitely kept me booked and busy. I have been traveling and meeting so many important people. My state officer journey has been amazing so far, with more great things to come.”
Burgess is the daughter of Mark and MarShell Burgess and is a senior at Pine Bluff High School. She is a member of the Healthy Clovers 4-H Club, the Pine Bluff High School 4-H Club, and a member of the Jefferson County and Arkansas 4-H Tech Change Makers Teams.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
She is also a member of the PBHS choir and the National Honor Society, according to the news release.
Elected during the summer at 4-H O-Rama district and state competitions, the Arkansas 4-H State Officer Team serves for a full year. Arkansas 4-H Youth vote in seven of their peers to represent Arkansas 4-H.
The officers are inducted at the annual Arkansas 4-H State O-Rama Closing Ceremony. The seven positions include president, first vice president, secretary, reporter, Ouachita District vice president, Ozark District vice president and Delta District vice president.
From Oct. 7-12, Arkansas 4-H members joined programs throughout the nation to celebrate National 4-H Week. The 2024 theme was “Beyond Ready.”
To learn more about local 4-H Youth Development programming, contact Pia Woods, Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Service staff chair, or county agent Timothy Wallace at (870) 534-1033 or via email at pwoods@uada.edu or twallace@uada.edu. You may also follow Jefferson County Extension and 4-H at facebook.com/UAEXJeffersonCo.
Sylvana Burgess of Jefferson County (left) and Daley Rogers of Grant County will serve as the 2024-2025 Arkansas 4-H secretary and first vice president, respectively. (Special to The Commercial)