Our Illinois 4-H Story 2014

Illinois 4-H has surpassed more than 100,000 packaged meals for the hungry in 11 months through the 4-H Feeding and Growing Our Communities program. The latest push came July 15 when more than 200 volunteers helped the Quad Cities 4-H Teen Hunger Ambassadors prepare more than 40,000 meals. The...

A group of intrepid middle school investigators, with the help of young scientists from area universities, solved the last of three crimes during their six-week stint as "Library Investigators." The 12 youth representing six Waukegan schools worked alongside scientists from the University of...

Brent Miller is teaching students to give back to their community; his life is their living example of that lesson. Brent, his wife Holly, and their three children live in Ullin. For the past 11 years, Brent has served as a 4-H leader for the Ridge Runners 4-H Club. Since he is also the ag teacher...

The 4-H Food Smart Families program teaches youth and their families to prepare nutritious meals and be physically active. At the same time, it gives teens practical experience at teaching, something many teens see as a potential career. That's a win-win situation according to U of I Extension...

Dozens of local youth have discovered a way to combine summer fun with learning. They will participate in an interactive activity that challenges youth to use critical thinking and science skills to address an agriculture problem. Led by Illinois 4-H members, the Fish Farm Challenge activity is...

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...

Ten Illinois 4-H teens were honored as Illinois 4-H Key Award winners for their leadership, community service and mentoring activities throughout their 4-H career. The award is sponsored by the H. Richard and Sarah F. McFarland Endowed 4-H Youth Leadership Development Support Fund from the Illinois...

One never knows how 4-H experiences can shape one's future. Josh Cole Brodnax participated in 4-H nutrition sessions while a youngster living in public housing in East Moline, thinking that would be his only experience with 4-H. Little did he know that 4-H would find him again as a teen and hone...

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...

Through a pilot initiative engaging 50 youth in Rockford, Madison and Elgin, 4-H youth in Illinois are building science and engineering skills for the future. Using open-source software and simple microcontroller boards called Arduinos, these youth are writing computer programs, learning how to...

Any better, and he'd been perfect. Darren Hawkins of Grundy County missed only one clay target throughout a full day of shotgun trap competition at the Illinois 4-H Shooting Sports State Shoot held Saturday, May 31 at the Brittany Shooting Park in Bunker Hill. Hawkins hit 74 of his 75 targets to...

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...

Four teens represented Illinois at the National Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. this spring. These 4-H science ambassadors, who hail from DuPage, Kane and Kendall counties, manned a water science booth at the popular national event. All of the youth are members of a special...

Some 4-H stories touch your heart in ways you don't ever forget. Meet 4-H member Tiffany Williams from Clark County who, as part of the five-member 4-H QOV Spinners 4-H Club, has donated time, talent and material to make beautiful "Quilts of Valor" for veterans of the area. Deb Lindley, the leader...

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...

The pilot program for the 4-H Teens as Teachers grant has wrapped up, and the results prove the concept of using teens to teach peers is solid for both the participants and the teen mentors. The following testimonials speak to the impact for 4-H Teen Teachers. "Being a teen teacher showed me...

Sometimes, it's hard enough just following a step-by-step recipe. Now, imagine you've been given a basket of ingredients and told to "make something." That's what teens in this year's Illinois 4-H Food Challenge pilot program faced. Several counties are holding mini competitions where youth...

Youth in Macon County now know more about how their food is produced, thanks to Illinois 4-H's Tech Wizards program. 4-H Tech Wizards is a national mentoring program funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. During March, the students studied embryology, all the while...

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...

University of Illinois Extension Statewide Camping Educator Curt Sinclair knew in his heart that serving as a 4-H camp counselor changed lives. Now he has the proof to back up his beliefs. In a recent survey conducted by U of I Extension for 4-H Memorial Camp, the comments from the teen counselors...