K-State grads proud of family legacy in 4-H
Head, heart, hands, health.
The pillars of the 4-H pledge are ones that Allan ’73 and Carolyn ’78 Harms know well.
To the Harms family, these aren’t just words; they’re a reminder of the guidance,
inspiration and knowledge that 4-H has given them.
The Harms family has a proud legacy of green — and purple — pride, with lifelong connections
to both 4-H and K-State.
Carolyn grew up in Mitchell County, Kansas, and was involved with the Asherville Achievers
4-H Club. Her mom was a charter member of the club and served as a community leader.
Carolyn’s mother just turned 90 and is still the community leader, celebrating 70
years of 4-H volunteering.
Coming from a small family farm, Carolyn’s favorite 4-H projects included livestock,
foods, community service and leadership. She said the 4-H experience helped build
her self-confidence.
“It was that leadership and community service portion of 4-H that really drew me in,”
said Carolyn, who currently serves on the board of the Kansas 4-H Foundation. “I was
pretty much an introvert growing up, and it was difficult for me to get up in front
of groups of people. Just doing the public speaking and project talks really helped
bring that out a little bit.”
Although Allan didn’t come from a 4-H background himself, he became involved when
he met Carolyn, especially as their children enrolled in the program. He said he enjoyed
the time he spent helping his children and other 4-H’ers with their projects through
their local Derby, Kansas, 4-H Club.
“Our kids’ experience with 4-H has helped them with their future work, being able
to talk to people and carry on conversations, and really see how the training of 4-H
project talks and speeches has helped them,” he said.
From 4-H to K-State
After high school, Carolyn attended Brown Mackie College and earned several secretarial
certificates before going to work for the Department of Economics at K-State. She
decided to go back to college at K-State and earned a degree in business management
in just three years.
Allan originally wanted to be an architect in high school but switched to construction
science at K-State. After time in the U.S. Air Force, he returned to K-State to earn
his degree in 1973.
Both enjoyed long, successful careers that included time at Boeing Co.
“It just opened up the door — that education and that degree,” Carolyn said of her
K-State experience. “When you get a business management degree, it helps you put the
whole perspective of how businesses fit together. The one thing that probably is the
best learning for me is that you can be successful at any job if you surround yourself
with the right people.”
For Allan, his most valuable takeaway from his K-State experience was a piece of advice
about the importance of lifelong learning.
“I always remember what my adviser told me,” Allan recalls. “He said, in construction,
you’re only going to learn about 5% of what you need to know here in college. You’ll
learn the rest of it on the job.”
Allan took this advice to heart, learning as much about construction as he could,
working in the summertime between semesters. Eventually, he built the family’s house,
which they have enjoyed for nearly 40 years.
Passing on the legacy
For Allan and Carolyn, passing on their love of 4-H to their children was a must.
They appreciated that it was an activity they could do together as an entire family,
which meant more time together in the midst of busy work and school schedules.
“We knew we wanted to get our kids in 4-H, just because of my experience with it,”
Carolyn said. “We could go to the meetings together, we could participate in things
together.”
Their oldest son, Adam ’05, enjoyed woodworking, while their middle son, Nathan ’09,
liked foods/baking and woodworking. Their daughter, Jessica ’13, was known for her
intricate crochet. All three were involved in community service and leadership.
“I don’t know that they can say it’s their favorite, but mom made them do either a
project talk or a demonstration every year,” Carolyn said with a chuckle. “Almost
every year they went to state, and they pretty much got purple [ribbons] at state
most of the time.”
At K-State, Adam studied management information systems and now works remotely for
an international company. Nathan and his wife live in Guatemala and are medical missionaries
— where Nathan still enjoys doing some baking. Jessica studied elementary education
and teaches kindergarten in Junction City, Kansas.
“4-H — whether you’re in a rural or an urban setting — means a whole lot when it comes
to a resume and opening doors,” Carolyn said. “And I think being part of a land-grant
institution, like K-State is, has got that history, it’s got that reputation. 4-H
kids, and those especially that go to K-State, are going to be hard-working individuals
that know how to keep their nose to the grindstone and get the job done, but do it
with the right integrity in mind and the right ethics.”
4-H is a gift that continues to give to their family and the community at large.
“It’s a great organization — I can’t talk highly enough of it,” Carolyn said. “To
me so much of it is the heart behind 4-H; you have to have a servant heart in this
world, and 4-H teaches that better than any organization I know of, especially for
youth.
“We’ve just been really blessed. I just pray that I’m able to give back as much as
I’ve been given.”