Karen Geibel

"All I can say is that 4-H shaped my entire life!" Geibel recalls. "I started showing horses in Allegheny County 4-H. Somehow, I got roped into trying out for the horse 4-H judging team, and I was hooked! Ann McManus was the County 4-H Educator and coach (as well as a Penn State alumna) and gave us a solid foundation. The first year we traveled to Penn State to judge in the state contest, I decided that Penn State was where I would go to college. It was the only place I even applied to college."

After several years in Allegheny County, Geibel moved to Butler County, where she continued to show horses and became involved in a horse club, a dog club, and a junior leaders program. "I met my best friends in 4-H and had some incredible times there," she said speaking on her time in the junior leaders program. "We even took a Winnebago to tour Canada for a week as part of the junior leaders program. I continued to judge horses under Donna Zang, yet another Penn State graduate, and I eventually made my way to State College."

At Penn State, Geibel immediately joined the Block and Bridle Club and began to learn about different species of livestock. As a college student, she was involved in horse judging, meats judging, and livestock judging teams. "I had the opportunity to travel all over the country, practicing at the industry leaders' farms and learning much about animal agriculture," Geibel notes. "I then discovered what I had in common with Ann McManus and Donna Zang--they were both taught by Dr. T.L. Merritt, who quickly became my mentor as well. After I had taken every course he taught, I did an independent study with Dr. Merritt and re-vamped the state 4-H horse judging guide. He was very gifted in his knowledge of horses as well as sheep."

Geibel graduated with a degree in animal production and, after college, moved to Mercer County. Within a year, she started a judging team in Mercer County. "I had a great time with those kids for ten years or so, Geibel says of the judging team. "It was around that time that my children began their own 4-H careers, and I took on a role as club leader. I wanted 4-H to teach my children as much as it had taught me! They were fortunate as they had access to more species of livestock than I had and showed just about every species with success."

After her youngest child graduated from 4-H (both of Geibel's children received their county's highest honor: Outstanding 4-H Member), Geibel took a more active role in her local county livestock committee, where she currently serves as chairman. She also went back to school and became certificated to teach high school biology. Geibel currently works at a charter school for at-risk youth, where she teaches biology and an agricultural science class. "Being able to teach agricultural science helps me dispel many myths that our students have about raising animals and the different methods and products they produce," she explains.

Outside of the classroom, she has remained active in the livestock industry and continues to raise Southdown sheep and Boer goats. "And of course, I still have a couple of horses just because they make me happy!" Geibel adds.

"So many of the activities and things I have done were because of 4-H," Geibel notes. "I love the program and will continue to support it throughout my days."