(02/26/25) BATON ROUGE, La. — Most action starts with a spark, a catalyst to do something. Louisiana 4-H was igniting that spark for seventh and eighth graders during the first Spark Action Change Summit held Feb. 20 to 22 in Baton Rouge.

The three-day summit focused on civic engagement, service and leadership. 4-H’ers took part in civic education and personal development tracks, a tour of the Louisiana State Capitol and Capitol Park Museum, a networking dinner and a service project at the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.

Kimberly Williams, interim assistant 4-H department head, developed the summit to help form future leaders in 4-H. She charged the 4-H Citizenship Board with helping to plan and execute many aspects of the summit.

One of those citizenship board youth leaders was Joe Lewis IV, a 10th grader from Winn Parish. Lewis said 4-H has been instrumental in developing his leadership skills, and he wanted the middle school 4-H’ers to see the opportunities he has experienced through 4-H.

“This allows middle schoolers, who are on the cusp of becoming high schoolers and transitioning to the next level, to see the bigger picture 4-H can offer and really get an eye into what's next for them,” he said.

Matt Lee, LSU vice president for agriculture and dean of the LSU College of Agriculture, gave remarks at the summit’s opening assembly. He spoke about his research as a sociologist into community well-being, encouraging the students to get involved in their communities.

“Communities with more civic engagement have less crime, higher income and less inequalities,” Lee said. “Invest in yourself and in your communities and in the future of Louisiana.”

State Rep. John Wyble, of Washington Parish, was the assembly’s keynote speaker. He is a former 4-H’er and spent eight years as a 4-H agent. He joked that he joined 4-H to get out of class for one hour a month but left 4-H with an opportunity to change the trajectory of his life going forward.

He gave them insight into his role as a legislator and what helped him get there. He also gave them advice to seek out leadership opportunities and experience the profound impact it could have.

“Leadership is about asking the right questions, not having all the answers,” Wyble told them.

Wyble’s talk was their first glance into the legislative process. Participants learned about the civic process through educational talks by youth leaders on the first day of the summit. The second day, students toured the State Capitol and passed mock bills.

Ellie Upshaw, of Ouachita Parish, attended hoping to improve on her understanding of government.

“All of my family are really big into politics, so I want to know what they’re talking about,” Ellie said. “Also trying to understand how I can be a better leader.”

The summit culminated in a tour and a service project at the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank that allowed the youth to see how the work they did at the food bank could impact others in the state.

Autumn Scarbrough, also of Ouachita Parish, said she was already feeling a spark and movement to make change happen where she lives.

“I want to get more people involved in planning out more community activities and more service opportunities,” Autumn said.

4-H’ers help pack boxes of food at the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank as part of a service project during the 4-H Spark Action Change Summit held Feb. 20-22. Photo by Kimberly Williams/LSU AgCenter

Louisiana 4-H held the Spark Action Change Summit on Feb. 20 to 22 in Baton Rouge. Participating 4-H’ers toured the Louisiana State Capitol and learned about the legislative process. Photo by Xavier Bell/LSU AgCenter

Autumn Scarbrough and Ellie Upshaw, 4-H’ers from Ouachita Parish, participate in a game during the 4-H Spark Action Change Summit on Feb. 20 in Baton Rouge. Photo by Tobie Blanchard/LSU AgCenter