It’s safe to say that Clare Canny, a 4-H’er in the eighth grade at the Georgetown Middle/High School, knows more about both rodenticides and town government proceedings than most adults do. Through her work in advocating for safer pest management solutions, she is promoting real change

at both a local and statewide level.

After first joining 4-H in kindergarten as a Cloverbud, Clare is the president of the Argos 4-H Dog Club, a member of the Plucky Poultry 4-H Club, and a Massachusetts 4-H Ambassador. Clare’s experience in 4-H with animals and leadership prepared her well for her role as an advocate for safer pest management solutions.

Back in 2022, Clare delivered her first 4-H Visual Presentation about substances for killing rodents, and the topic intrigued her so much she presented about it again in 2025, moving on to State VPs and winning the blue ribbon in the Wildlife category. “A reason I became involved with it is I wanted to educate people about what the rodenticides could do when they’re using them,” Clare explained. Clare narrowed her research to second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs), which are extremely potent because the chemicals travel through the ecosystem. “If a hawk eats a rat, then the hawk can get sick…once you put the chemical out there, you can’t really stop it,” she explained.

Clare noted that there are many alternatives to SGARs. “There are safer options of poisons; there are traps. There are also certain smells, like peppermint, which can deter rats,” she explained. “I like to educate people about alternatives.”

Advocacy dovetailed with education when Clare approached local officials in April 2025. “I went to the [Georgetown] town hall, the town clerk’s office. I got about 200 signatures in favor of a rodenticide ban from people in my town,” Clare said.

Next, Clare drafted a rodenticide use policy, which would mainly prohibit SGARs in Georgetown but still allow them in emergencies. “In April 2025 I went to a Select Board meeting and spoke to the members. The Board voted the policy in as a Select Board regulation.” The vote prohibited the use of SGARs on municipal property.

Clare then set her sights on the State House after first visiting in April 2025 for Massachusetts Ag Day to share information about 4-H with legislators. There, she met State Representative Jim Hawkins, D-Attleboro, who invited her to a testimony session on a bill to ban rodenticides.

On October 27, 2025, Clare shared her knowledge of rodenticides with the Joint Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources at the State House. Her two-minute speech supported Bill H.965, An Act Restricting the Use of Rodenticides in the Environment, filed by Representative Hawkins. While nervous, she stressed that her experience with 4-H made the difference in her presentation. “I was glad that I had done my 4-H Visual Presentation on rat poison,” said Clare. “It made me a lot more confident because I had more practice.”

Massachusetts 4-H Foundation Board Vice President and 4-H Educator, Va Shon Wallace-Hiltpold, noted that Clare required no aid from 4-H Educators in her advocacy, though she did receive 4-H training on delivering Visual Presentations (VPs). “This project started out as a VP, and then in Clare doing research and seeing how the rodenticides impacted the environment, she became an advocate,” marveled Wallace-Hiltpold.

In addition to her testimony at the State House, Clare has broadened her sights beyond Georgetown to assist the town of Ipswich with their rodenticide use policy and hopes to also expand the poison ban in her own town. “I’m aiming to talk to my district school board, because they still use second-generation poisons there [on school property],” said Clare passionately. “It is crazy that they use these poisons where there are preschoolers.”

Clare impressed 4-H Educator Wallace-Hiltpold. “The way it worked out, it’s just amazing,” she said. “In 4-H, there’s room for you to do and explore so many things.”

Clare is still awaiting the results of her State House testimony and Bill H.965, but she has already gained knowledge and skills from Massachusetts 4-H and her work combatting rodenticides. “I’ve learned a lot about how government works, about educating people and how to gain public support,” she said.

“Clare’s testimony reflects 4‑H’s definition of civic engagement—equipping young people with the knowledge, confidence, and voice to actively participate in civic life,” said Robert Kordenbrock, the Foundation’s Executive Director. “Experiences like this exemplify how 4‑H youth are not just preparing for the future, but are already Beyond Ready to lead, influence, and create change in their communities.”

 

Jhaneil Ramirez has always enjoyed gardening. Now 17 and a junior at Springfield Honors Academy, Jhaneil traveled to the Ignite by 4-H summit in Washington D.C. in 2025. This national leadership trip, funded in part by the Massachusetts 4-H Foundation, is an annual summit where young people initiate a “lead to change” project to bring back to their communities. The experience spurred him on to research and design pollinator gardens for sites in Massachusetts.

Lauren Dubois,  4-H Urban Educator based in Springfield, explains that Jhaneil was selected to attend Ignite by 4-H and work on the pollinator project because he had already spent time working with Gardening the Community, a nonprofit that trains young people to grow fruits and vegetables. “The reason we chose him [for Ignite] is this relationship,” she said.

Jhaneil stood out long before he attended Ignite by 4-H. A participant in the 4-H STEAM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Arts/Math) school and community partnership program for the past five years, Jhaneil decided to join when he saw a flyer at his school. He completed the session and then went on to attend Explore UMass, a two-day Massachusetts 4-H program that enables teens to try out STEM careers and sample college life.

Jhaneil now serves 4-H STEAM as a youth leader. He assists the 4-H Program Assistant in delivering hands-on science activities to middle schoolers in the Holyoke/Springfield area and receives a small stipend. He continued developing his skills as a STEM Ambassador, teaching youth at a 4-H summer program. “For six weeks, I was out teaching kids all about pollinators and agriculture and livestock, and all these things I’m passionate about,” said Jhaneil in a video produced by the National 4-H Council.

Jhaneil’s trip to Ignite by 4-H kicked off the pollinator project. Once home, he began to perform the research necessary to create pollinator gardens. He made a list of 91 species of bugs, including bees, butterflies, and other pollinators that would be protected by future gardens. “I did research on bugs, especially bugs native to Massachusetts,” he explained. “Populations that live in only one place are the most important to preserve.”

Formulating a garden for 91 species challenged Jhaneil. For this, he called on Blake Dinius, an Entomologist Extension Educator for Plymouth County, who provided fact checking and reviewed statistics. “Jhaneil had a lot of passion and ambition with this project,” said Dinius. “I really let him take the reins on this. I wanted it to be his project.”

The Ashland Innovation 4-H Club contributed much-needed technological assistance and visibility to the pollinator project. While the club typically focuses on robotics and coding, its members relished the chance to work on something new. “We got to show off our skills in a different way,” said 4-H’er Hitesh Vuppala.

The Ashland Innovation 4-H Club is contributing to the project by promoting it via social media and building a website, whatsbuzzinginma.org. When complete, the website will include “details about the Ignite trip, pollinator species, and how citizens can help pollinators to flourish,” said Sid Monagari, a member of the Ashland Innovation 4-H Club.

Ashland Innovation and Jhaneil delivered a Visual Presentation about the pollinators at both The Big E (Eastern States Exposition) and 4-H STEM Day, growing its audience. Two 4-H’ers from Ashland Innovation worked as youth leaders at Explore UMass 2025 in the Pollinator track. “We helped by catching the pollinators and showing the kids where they came from,” said 4-H’er Rupinika Golla. Club members will help to construct the garden beds.

Jhaneil has decided to place the garden beds at Liberty Hill Townhouses in Springfield and the Charles River Campus of UMass Amherst (where Massachusetts 4-H has an office). This spring, the gardens will come to life.

Jhaneil has big plans for the future. “I’d like to be an educator one day,” he said. “That has been one of my big dreams. I’d like to be a professor, teach complicated things.”

He is certainly well on his way!

 

Great minds think alike, and in the case of Cape Cod Cooperative Extension (CCCE), the Brazilian Resource Center of South Yarmouth, and the Dennis Conservation Land Trust (DCLT), minds came together to create a stimulating, agricultural education pilot program for Brazilian youth on Cape Cod while also introducing them to Massachusetts 4-H. “This is filling a hole for a demographic of kids that hadn’t been filled yet,” said Leeza Barstein of the Dennis Conservation Land Trust.

The ten-week program, which took place weekly after school between April 21 and June 30, served eighteen youth ages 6-13 from the Brazilian Resource Center, a nonprofit that serves the Brazilian community on the Cape. During their time in the program, the youth planted earth boxes with vegetables, including spinach, lettuce, and Brazilian crops such as okra and jilo, which they later transplanted into raised beds.

The young people also conducted hands-on science experiments and kept science journals, enjoyed nature walks at the DCLT’s property, and learned about hydroponic farming at Cape Abilities Farm in Dennis. The youth learned about the parts of a plant, like roots and stems, and which minerals plants need to grow.

The partnership between the organizations occurred when Leeza Barstein of the DCLT contacted Sandi Shepard-Gay, the 4-H Extension Educator with CCCE. The DCLT owned land available for cultivation, and the Brazilian Resource Center, having worked with Buy Fresh Buy Local to plant gardens at several local schools, was looking for additional land to garden. Buy Fresh Buy Local, also part of CCCE, helps residents to locate and prepare fresh food.

Representatives from the organizations met and planned the new youth Ag Education program. “Due to the youth’s age range and because for some English was not their first language, we were presented with a welcome opportunity to adapt the program and its delivery,” said Shepherd-Gay.

Youth and stakeholders alike have realized extensive benefits from the pilot program. In addition to the children learning where their food comes from, Michael Mecenas, the Brazilian Resource Center’s Founder and Executive Director, has also witnessed a significant change in the youth of the program, citing improved socialization and curiosity. “Parents have reported to us that the kids research when they go home, they ask a lot of questions,” Mecenas said. “I’m extremely happy with this program. There’s a waiting list for the next one.”

David Fryxell, Executive Director of DCLT, believes the program underscores his organization’s focus on education. “The program teaches about sustainable agriculture in a way that doesn’t harm the environment,” he said. And the enthusiasm of the youth make the time invested worthwhile. “I liked planting the beans best!” said Claire, a participant.

To fund the program, Buy Fresh Buy Local was awarded a grant in February from the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture (MDAR) called Reserving Cape Cod’s Agricultural Past, Cultivating the Future — A Comprehensive Plan for Buy Fresh Buy Local Cape Cod 2025 Programs, a portion of which supported the Ag Education program, said Tara Racine, Coordinator of Buy Fresh Buy Local. The grant even paid 4-H enrollment fees for the Brazilian Resource Center participants, who are now full 4-H members. “It provides an opportunity that the youth might otherwise have not been able to participate in,” said Racine.

In June, eleven new 4-H’ers gathered at the DCLT for the program’s concluding party. As swallows flew in and out of the DCLT’s barn, the children participated in water activities with AmeriCorps members, played games, and enjoyed a barbeque and the arrival of a local ice cream truck.

Tara Racine of Buy Fresh Buy Local believes that the program will run again next year and anticipates applying for more funding. 4-H Educator Sandi Shepherd-Gay welcomes the opportunity to raise awareness of 4-H and appreciates the connections she has made. “If you get the collaborations going, then the programs can run themselves,” said Shepherd-Gay. “It’s a goal of 4-H and a particular goal of mine to make Barnstable County 4-H accessible to all youth. Cape Cod is fortunate to have a wide variety of youth demographics.”