Our Illinois 4-H Story

Robots will take over the ARC this Saturday during the sixth annual Illinois State 4-H BoxBot Robotics Competition. Approximately 300 students within 45 teams from across the state will exhibit their robots and compete against each other. In addition to the student competitors, University students...

It's one thing to show livestock; it's another to understand the science behind raising livestock which will produce well and provide wholesome product for consumers. That's the vision which led DeWitt County 4-H volunteers Larry Martin and Doug North to host a livestock clinic which attracted...

Kendall County 4-H Federation members gave back to their community by supporting local food bank organizations, including the Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB) in Geneva. The group helped pack 651 "backpacks" which will provide for 11,718 meals for hungry residents in the region. The 4-H...

Janet Pezzelle, a volunteer leader of the Forsyth Fantastics 4-H Club for 15 years, said she wanted to expose her club members to something new. Her "something new" was bright, shiny and full of bling, glass mosaics. Members brought in items from home as the base for their mosaic project, and with...

You never know where the inspiration for a career will come. For 16-year-old Susannah Hall, it came from the 4-H knitting project she taught herself by reading a how-to book at the library. Susannah is a 5-year member of the Ft. Sumpter 4-H Club. She recently taught other 4-H members and parents in...

The next time you use the phrase "walking on eggshells," you'll think of a group of 4-H afterschool youth in Decatur who actually walked on eggs as part of their 4-H embryology project study. In addition to hatching chicks, the youth studied the egg structure, and to illustrate her points, 4-H...

Thirty years ago, a young man job-shadowed a Grundy County judge as part of University of Illinois Extension's Local Government Day. That young man is now the 41-year-old deputy sheriff for the county. He told his story during this year's Local Government Day and encouraged youth to make the most...

When a tornado hit Washington, Ill., 4-H families across the state were quick to respond, due, in large part, to the work of the Extension staff in Woodford County. Through the efforts of 4-H clubs, families and friends, $10,000 in gift cards have been donated to help the families who lost homes...

"I hear that train a-comin," and it's being led by a group of former 4-H members who found each other on the University of Illinois campus years after spending a summer together as 4-H counselors. David and Daniel Fulton, twin sons of U of I Extension staff Sherry and John Fulton, first met Grady...

The following message came from a middle school teacher in Northern Illinois where Illinois 4-H has teamed with National 4-H Council to provide grant-funded 4-H robotics special interest clubs. She has seen the change in one young boy's life because of our valuable program. "One of my boys has a...