Author: Sara Lewis

EquiSTEP 2025

by

An update on this year’s EquiSTEP (Equine Safety, Training, and Education Program).

EquiSTEP is an annual statewide requirement for all youth participating in Ohio 4-H Horse Program activities and/or enrolled in a 4-H horse project.  EquiSTEP replaces the statewide requirement of reading the Horses, Safety, and You (191R) resource and viewing the Every Time, Every Ride and Horses, Kids, and Ethics videos for youth and their families who are new to the 4-H horse program.

The EquiSTEP curriculum follows the 4’Hs and focuses on head (helmet safety), hands (equine safety & handling), health (equine health & nutrition), and heart (sportsmanship) and is designed to rotate topics every year.

EquiSTEP is designed to be completed online by each participant individually through Scarlet Canvas. Fulton County youth must complete EquiSTEP no later than May 15, 2025.

Here is the link to enroll in/access this year’s EquiSTEP: https://cfaesosu.catalog.instructure.com/courses/equistep-2025 (This link is also available at the bottom of the home page for horse.osu.edu.)

To complete EquiSTEP individually, a participant must enroll using their own unique email address.  (Participants should not use their school email addresses as the course enrollment invitation will be blocked by the school’s email system.)  Participants must view all five videos (introduction and STEPS 1-4) which last approximately one hour in total.  Once the videos are completed, participants will be able to access the 10-question quiz.  Participants must complete the quiz associated with the training and achieve a minimum score of 7 (out of 10) in order to pass the training.  Once the quiz is successfully completed, participants will need to complete the course survey to trigger a certificate of completion.  The certificate will be emailed to the participant’s email address as well as their county’s 4-H email address.  The participant must select their correct county to trigger the email to the correct email address and they must click on the submit button at the end of the survey to trigger the email.

Ohio 4-H Spark EXPO

by

Ohio 4-H Spark EXPO is back! From June 11-14, 2025, students who have completed 8th or 9th grade by the end of the 2024-2025 school year are invited to explore exciting career pathways, engage in hands-on learning experiences, and discover new passions at The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. This immersive experience connects youth with industry professionals, faculty, and peers to spark their interests and inspire future career goals.

Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to learn, grow, and explore!

Learn more: go.osu.edu/4hsparkexpo

NW Ohio Rabbit Clinic

by

A Rabbit-Specific Quality Assurance Opportunity

Travis West currently serves as the
OSU Assistant Professor for 4-H
Youth Development in Vinton
County, Ohio. He is will-versed in
showing and providing exceptional
care for rabbit projeects.

 

Please leave your project animal at
home as this is an educational
presentation.

 

 

 

Date: Saturday, April 26

Time: 10am-12pm

Location: Crossroads Church (Napoleon)

 

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

https://go.osu.edu/2025nworabbitclinic

Beginner’s Guide to Showing Livestock Workshop

by

Join your Northwest Ohio 4-H Educators to offer our “New to Showing Livestock” families an opportunity to educate you on best practices from purchasing your animal, to completing your project, exhibiting at your county fair, and securing buyers to fulfill your market exhibition.

Our presentation will consist of a review of many shared aspects of Livestock projects.The opportunity to as county-specific questions will be permistted at the conclusion of the presentation.

For more information, visit https://u.osu.edu/henry4h/quality-assurance/.

 

DATE
Thursday April 10, 2025

TIME
6:30-8:00 p.m.

HELD VIA ZOOM
Be sure to register using the link below.

 

 

REGISTRATION LINK
https://go.osu.edu/beginnersguide2livestock

We’re Beyond Ready for Ohio 4-H Week!

by

Ohio 4-H Week is right around the corner and Fulton County 4-H is Beyond Ready! Join us March 2-8 as we celebrate the impact of 4-H and recognize the youth, volunteers, professionals, and friends who help Fulton County 4-H thrive.  

Whether 4-H’ers are learning a new skill, challenging themselves at camp, or taking on an exciting leadership opportunity, we know 4-H helps prepare our youth to be Beyond Ready for work and life. Data from a Tufts University study shows that compared to their peers 4-H members are: 

  • 2X more likely to have the goal of being a leader 
  • 3X more likely to participate in community service 
  • 2X more likely to report living life with intentionality and purpose 

Ohio 4-H is excited to join our national partners across the land-grant system in promoting the initiative to grow from reaching 6 million youth annually to 10 million youth across the nation. With this ambitious goal, we can ensure that even more youth will be Beyond Ready for their future – in school, in work, in life – with the support of the 4-H community. The road ahead may be challenging for our youth in this rapidly changing world but 4-H’ers are succeeding. 

You can get into the spirit of Ohio 4-H Week and ensure that the youth in your life are Beyond Ready for anything the future holds by completing your online enrollment for the 2025 4-H program year today. Through 4-H, youth participate in hands-on, experiential learning activities that help them grow into caring, competent, confident leaders of tomorrow, all while having fun and forming friendships that will last a lifetime! 

We are building a ready generation in a world of change by offering opportunities and experiences that shape youth into their full, authentic selves, enabling them to shine both now and in the future. With your support, we equip youth with skills for the future while meeting them where they are today. 

To learn more about how to get started in 4-H, visit our Join 4-H site. There, you can find information about the various community clubs in Fulton County and learn how to select a project. Enrollment can be completed on 4-H Online through April 1. Please contact Sara Lewis, 4-H Youth Development Extension Educator, at lewis.3213@osu.edu or 419-337-9210 with any questions. 

Finally, don’t forget to show your support for Fulton County 4-H by making a gift to our 4-H Endowment fund! All donations directly support Fulton County 4-H programming so even more kids can be Beyond Ready.  

Ohio 4-H Forestry and Wildlife Camp

by

Here you will find a flyer for Forestry and Wildlife Conservation camp, and below you will find more information and with links regarding the camp registration. The Flyer is available here as a PDF format.

        • The Forestry Wildlife Camp is open to campers in grades 7-11.
      • Registration for camp is due April 1.
      • Campers can enjoy wildlife education, fishing, hiking, tree climbing, outdoor survival, ODNR careers & college opportunities, learning about forestry and more!
      • There are no scholarships for the camp this year, so youth will need to work with their county if they need assistance with the registration fees.
      • We will also need experienced camp counselors to assist at this camp. Counselor fees will be covered with our Ohio 4-H Foundation grant funds.

There is a GoLink for registration, go.osu.edu/ForestryWLCamp25. Or members can apply by clicking this link.  http://go.osu.edu/ForestryWLCamp25

The link for camp counselors to apply is https://go.osu.edu/25forestrycampcounselorapplication. Those are due March 21. We will have a zoom meeting/training with those counselors who are selected prior to the camp.

 

NEW Fulton County 4-H Shooting Sports Program Open House

by

NEW THIS YEAR! Shooting Sports Projects will be available for youth in ANY Fulton County 4-H Club! The project is still required to be taken under the supervision of a certified 4-H shooting sports instructor, but youth will no longer be required to join a “shooting sports club” to take the project. Intead, there will be a county program where youth in the project will receive instruction from certified shooting sports instructors in the county.
There are two open house opportunities scheduled for advisors, parents and youth to learn more about the projects and how this will work. Shooting will also be offered at these open houses so the youth can try out the equipment and have a little fun hitting some targets!
There is NO COST for youth to participate in the open houses or the project. All equipment and ammunition is provided. Projects available include Archery, Hunting and Wildlife, Living History, Muzzleloader, Pistol, Rifle and Shotgun.
Please share this information out! If a youth isn’t currently in 4-H, we will help direct them to a local club.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Kim Baker at 419-699-4166 or kim@hoppinandtrottin.com.

2025 Livestock Quality Assurance Opportunities **NEW COMPLETION DEADLINE**

by

As outlined in the announcement shared on December 15, 2024, there is a new completion deadline (THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2025) for all youth intending to exhibit livestock at the 2025 Fulton County Junior Fair.

2025 NW Ohio Livestock QA Flyer

Registration and Other Instructions

QA registration and additional neighboring county dates and info can be found at go.osu.edu/NWOhioQA. All of these sessions will be accepted as QA certification, some are in-person, some are virtual. IF YOU ATTEND QA OUT-OF-COUNTY, IT IS THE EXHIBITOR’S RESPONSIBILITY TO HAVE THEIR CERTIFICATE TURNED IN NO LATER THAN May 15, 2025 TO THE FULTON COUNTY OSU EXTENSION OFFICE.

QA requirements can also be completed through your community club, or local FFA advisor, if eligible.

Date  Type  Time  Location  Presenter 
January 21
Tuesday 		 Zoom  6:30 pm  Zoom  Megan Schulte Williams County  
February 12
Wednesday 		 In Person  3:30 pm   Fairview Elementary
Sherwood 		 Teresa Johnson
Defiance County 
March 27 Thursday   Zoom  6:30 pm  Zoom  Morgan Parcher
Henry County 
April 9 Wednesday  In Person  3:30 pm  Ayersville HS Commons   Teresa Johnson
Defiance County  
April 10
Thursday 		 Zoom  6:30 pm  Beginner’s Guide to Livestock Projects  General Session followed by breakout sessions by county 
April 17
Thursday 		 Zoom  6:30 pm  Zoom  Sara Lewis
Fulton County 
April 21
Monday  		 In Person  6:30 pm  Gillette Building
Williams Co Fairgrounds 		 Megan Schulte Williams County 
April 24
Thursday April 24
Thursday 		 In Person

 

In Person  

 6:30 pm

 

7:30 pm 

 Henry County Crossroads Church (Napoleon)  

 

Pettisville Jr. High School

Gymnasium

 Morgan Parcher
Henry County Pettisville 4-H & FFA Advisors

Fulton County
May 10
Saturday 		 In Person  10:00 am  Henry County Crossroads Church (Napoleon)  Morgan Parcher
Henry County 
May 13
Tuesday 		 In Person  6:30 pm   Fulton Co Extension Wauseon  Sara Lewis
Fulton County 
May 14
Wednesday 		 In Person  3:30 pm  Tinora Elementary
Cafeteria 		 Teresa Johnson
Defiance County