"One year, I took a map of the [state] fairgrounds and colored in all the 4-H exhibits," said Celeste Carmichael, the 4-H youth development program specialist who has helped coordinate Cornell-related 4-H events at the Great New York State Fair for the last seven years. "It turned out that more than one-third of the fairground had a 4-H connection."

This year was no exception. Thanks to 4-H, the only youth-serving organization connected to Cornell through its land-grant mission and Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) programs, Cornell's presence was ubiquitous. The large Upromise Youth Building, in the northwest corner of the New York State Fair Grounds in Syracuse, exhibited well over 3,000 youth projects over the fair's 12-day run (Aug. 24-Sept. 4). Projects by young people ranging in age from 9 to 19 covered disciplines from the visual arts, photography, and food and nutrition to natural resources, entomology, and clothing and textiles.

"The fair program has been an integral part of the extension program for over 80 years," said Glenn Applebee, associate director of CCE. "The fair provides an opportunity for the public display of the educational programs linked to the university from all over the state."

With the passage of the Smith-Lever Act in 1914 by the U.S. Congress, federal funds were made available to the state's agriculture colleges, like the one already established at Cornell, to extend educational services to people who could not leave their homes to attend a university. Thus started the county extension agent system and expansion of boys' and girls' clubs, soon to be known as 4-H, across New York and the United States. The four H's stand for head, heart, hands and health.

All four H's were on display at this year's state fair. For example, Ulster County teenager Sara Cohen submitted her project of home-made berry bread, which included berries she had gathered and wheat she had stone-ground by hand. Her tasty bread and description of the bread-making process captured the attention of the 15 judges.

The Upromise building includes an upstairs dormitory where some 400 youth stayed on the grounds in three four-day rotations over the course of the fair. Exhibits followed the same four-day rotation, switching as each new group arrived. The teenage participants also were given roles running the fair. Teen assistants and teen leaders helped judges, assisted with exhibits and worked in the chick-hatching area in the youth building's poultry section, which was awarded a blue ribbon by Syracuse's Channel 3 News.

Also at the Upromise building, the ambitious 4-H teen press corps wrote, produced and published a newspaper, the 4-H Fair Street Journal.

And elsewhere around the fairgrounds, 4-H'ers brought literally thousands of animals from around the state to participate in shows to feature their horses, beef and dairy cattle, rabbits, poultry, meat and dairy goats, swine and more.

Young people in 4-H also benefit from direct connections to campus if they choose to pursue them. In virtually any area where New York youths are interested in learning more, 4-H connects them to Cornell's resources. (As a reminder of 4-H's connection to land grant and Cornell, CCE staffers hung banners around the fairgrounds that read "4-H connects kids to Cornell.") For many subject areas, it is part of CCE's contract and the land-grant agenda to prepare a curriculum, which 4-H educators and Cornell departments develop together, to use with the 4-H youth.

Once in high school, students can attend such summer programs as the annual 4-H Career Explorations Conference, at which CCE and 4-H staffers host more than 450 high school students.

All these activities provide low-cost enrichment for any young person in New York and expose them at a young age to the university, research and career opportunities.