Chester Township couple still active in Geauga 4-H

Plants and robots share a commonality inside the Chester Township home of Jeff and Adrienne LaFavre.

It’s there that Jeff leads the 4-H GEAR (Geauga Engineering and Robotics) Club and his wife Adrienne serves as advisor for the 4-H Plant Masters.

The couple hosts the clubs’ meetings in their home where an abundance of fun and discovery takes place along with the fulfillment of the 4-H goal “to develop citizenship, leadership, responsibility and life skills of youth through experiential learning programs and a positive youth development approach.”

“Our kids are grown and we’re at the point where we can give back,” Jeff said of the couple’s reason for their involvement. “We are both so fortunate to have had wonderful educations and it would be a shame not to share what we’ve learned.”

One evening this spring the LaFavres gave evidence of their giving back by hosting lively and informative meetings of both groups.

In one room Adrienne presented a slideshow on the topic of seeds. Youth ranging from elementary school students to those in high school were interested and attentive as they responded to questions and asked some of their own. In between, playful bantering demonstrated a positive rapport.

Later, a table filled with green beans, peanuts, avocados and other seeded plant species were the focus of a follow-up activity.

Participants examined the specimens with microscopes and magnifying glasses and talked about their findings as Adrienne facilitated the flow of discussion, while working members of the club expressed their reasons for choosing to be part of the 4-H group.

“I’ve always been interested in plants. I came to (Plant Masters) and I loved it. There’s lots of hands-on learning,” said 13-year-old Emily Tomasch.

Bryce Gajda of Chardon Township explained that he enjoyed the variety of learning and activities.

“One day we’re studying the germination of plants and one day we’re finding seeds inside of peanuts,” he said.

Longtime 4-H’er Tim Cermak, a recent graduate of Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin School, noted that he not only enjoys Plant Masters but also other opportunities that 4-H affords.

He said he’s learned much about leadership and values the friends he has made through his experiences including serving as the 2018 president of the Geauga County 4-H Junior Fair Board.

“4-H is a great community of people dedicated to enriching the community,” Tim said.

While plants were the subject in one room of the LaFavre home, robotics was the center of attention in another.

GEAR members worked at computers and talked excitedly about recent honors earned at the National Robotics Challenge in Marion, Ohio.

Among winners was a team of five seventh-grade students who entered the “Internet of Things” contest. They snagged first place and also won the Honda Innovation Award, the highest honor at the NRC.

Comprising the team were Grant Congdon, Aidan Dondero, Alyssa Mobley, Bryn Morgan and Peter Wesen.

“If it wasn’t for 4-H we wouldn’t have had this opportunity,” said Bryn. “What we’re doing is so much more complex. This club, in my opinion, is really great. It’s not ‘from a kit’ like other robot clubs. Here you have the flexibility to do some things that are a lot more complicated.”

Jeff commended the members and said they gave up valuable free time and social events to prepare for the challenge.

“This isn’t ‘plug and play’,” Adrienne added. “They wrote the programs for this.”

Acknowledging all that the LaFavres do for the area’s youth was Meredith Gajda, Bryce’s mother.

“I think we’re very fortunate as a community to have the LaFavres dedicate their time and efforts to put these (activities) on,” she said.

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