4-H

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...

What do you do with a shoe that you aren't wearing anymore? If you're a 4-H member in Kendall County, chances are you've turned it into a garden planter. With instruction from 17-year-old 4-H Member Cydney Olah, youth took shoes from an area resale store and created a garden planter. ...

More than 200 youth experienced a bit of college life during the 2014 Illinois 4-H Illini Summer Academies, sponsored by University of Illinois Extension in cooperation with several departments on campus. High school youth stayed in dorms, experienced campus recreation and food, and spent 15 hours...

University of Illinois Extension and the American Heart Association (AHA) teamed up to motivate children at the Joliet Park District Hartman Center to live healthier lives. Megan Walsh, U of I Extension youth educator, organized the interactive educational event, which was led by David Lee, an...

The burning question in Logan County was "Are you smarter than a 4-Her." The answers came during a fast-paced trivia contest, sponsored, in part, by Farm Credit Illinois. Acting on a suggestion by the county's Expansion & Review Committee, the trivia contest hoped to provide opportunities for...

Not many 4-H members can say they've been to the White House—by special invitation. Two members of the Chicago Knights, a 4-H robotics club, can. John Moore of Lincoln Park High School and Lydia Wolfe, Hales Franciscan High School, received the invitation to demonstrate the robot they built for "...

Leaving a child at camp for the first time can be scary for parents. In nearly 20 years at 4-H Memorial Camp in Monticello, Curt Sinclair, University of Illinois Extension statewide camping educator, said he never tires from getting these types of emails from parents: "I wanted to reach out to...

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...

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...

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...