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Awards & Recognition

End of the Year Awards

Whether you are a first-year 4-H member or a longtime member, it’s time to focus on pulling together information for your 4-H award applications. Even younger members can submit the 4-H Experience Application and be eligible for 4-H recognition. Older members can submit the 4-H Experience Application, apply for project area-specific awards, and the Illinois 4-H Scholarship Application to be eligible for state recognition, scholarships, and/or trips. Club leaders can nominate outstanding youth, families, or volunteers.

Each 4-H member has a story to tell and is eligible for our 4-H awards program – tell YOUR stories and see where they take you!

Awards Overview: Please Read This First

To learn more about all of the awards available, please check out the Awards Outline.

Award applications will be submitted online. You must do this by 11:59 p.m. October 6, 2025.

Please note that your browser will automatically save your in-process application.

All clubs must submit their secretary and treasurer's books by their county deadline. These can be submitted by dropping a copy off at the office, emailing your county coordinator, or uploading them below to your county submission form.

Competitive Awards

4-H County Awards

  • Community Service
  • Project Mastery
  • Leadership
  • Communication
  • Personal Growth

Other Awards

  • Golden Needle Award
  • Top 10 First Year Member Award
  • Mary Miller Award (Vermilion Only)

Non-competitive Awards

Record Books

You will submit a PDF of your Record Book.

Officer Awards

Please see the Officer Award tab for more details.

 

Nominated Awards

Are you planning to nominate an outstanding 4-H'er? Here are instructions for the nominated award application forms. Upload the PDF or a word document to the Qualtrics form. 

 

For Youth

 

For Adults

 

For Families

Learn more about all State Level Awards on the Illinois State 4-H Awards website.

State Scholarships

The Illinois 4-H Scholarship is a merit-based scholarship to award outstanding work in project areas. Five $1,000 scholarships will be awarded in each of the following categories: Animal Science, Civic Engagement/Global Living, Creative Performing Arts & Communication, Food Systems,  Healthy Living/ Nutrition, Leadership, Natural Resources & Environmental Science, Personal Growth and STEM/Robotics. The deadline to apply is November 1. Apply on state 4-H website.

Officer Awards

Please submit all awards applications by October 6. Please complete the 2024-2025 Awards Application, you must select the award you wish to apply for and complete all questions.

 

Please note that all clubs must submit Secretary and Treasurer books, even if they do not wish to apply for an award. If you are NOT applying for an award, these can be uploaded to the Club Record Upload form under the Awards Overview section by your county's deadline.