Carl Schmidgall knows how to take a bad situation and make it better. His sister, Korri, wrecked her Jeep when she hit a patch of black ice coming home from basketball practice. She was fine, but the Jeep was totaled. It sat in the machine shed at home for two years before Carl decided to rebuild...

It's like suddenly seeing the world in a new way. That's how teens attending the Illinois 4-H Illini Summer Academies describe their time studying with University of Illinois instructors this week. From quantum mechanics and mutagenesis to honey bee health and family interactions, U of I staff...

Lessons come wrapped in all types of boxes. Here are five lessons every 4-H member knows. #5: You aren't going to win every time, and that's okay. How you lose is just as important as how you win. There's no way you're going to get through life #1 all the time. Real champions...

Do you remember your first time on the University of Illinois campus? Sure you do. There's something about walking on the quad for the first time that stays with a person. Illinois 4-H wants to be that 'first look at campus' for Illinois young people, and we do it through our Illini Summer...

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...

The real world is a lot tougher than most eighth graders know. Extension's "Welcome to the Real World" brings home that lesson. WTTRW is an experiential learning simulation which shows youth real facts about how the careers they choose and the decisions they make effect...

For 25 years, University of Illinois Extension's "Simply the Best" program in Washington County has mixed the right ingredients to inspire positive change in the lives of 250 junior high youth there a year. High school teens who have been through the program themselves serve as mentors, helping...

Charlee Walker didn't tell anyone her plan, so imagine the surprise when the 17-year-old 4-H member from Edgar County walked into her senior prom wearing a dress she made . . . out of magazine pages. It took this creative young lady more than two months to design, weave, fold, staple and hot glue...