Opportunities – State & National

Animal Science Career Night

December 18, 7-8 pm

Join us for an evening to hear from noted speakers in the animal science industry as they share career exploration insights, advice, and more! Open to youth in grades 7–13 (ages 12–19).

Register by Dec 17

 

 

National 4-H Conference Applications Now Available

Apply Now: 2026 National 4-H Conference Delegate Opportunity! Applications are now open for Ohio 4-H members (ages 15–18 as of January 1, 2026) to represent our state at the 2026 National 4-H Conference in Washington, D.C., held April 9–15.

This prestigious event focuses on civic engagement, civic education, and personal development, bringing together youth from across the country to connect, learn, and lead. Interested members must complete the online application by December 1. More details and application link can be found here: https://go.osu.edu/N4HC.

Carving New Ideas Weekend – Nov 21-23

Each year, Collegiate 4-H at The Ohio State University organizes a weekend workshop called Carving New Ideas (CNI). It will be held at 4-H Camp Ohio, November 21-23, 2025, and is open to all teen 4-H members across the state. Please consider sharing this opportunity in your newsletters and on social media. It’s a fun weekend for teens to get to interact with college students who serve as the organizers, camp counselors, and session facilitators. This opportunity focuses on workforce development, future-forward thinking, and program facilitation for 4-H members in grades 8-12. Campers develop their leadership skills while making new friends from across Ohio. (Franklin County staff and volunteers provide the administrative details, risk management, nursing services, and food preparation for the weekend.)

Families can register their teens themselves with the online registration and pay by credit card. If your county would like to send youth to the camp and pay by check or fund transfer, that is an option also. Youth just need to check the box that the county is providing a scholarship for them when they register themselves. We ask that 4-H Professional let us know which youth to look out for as registrations come in. A flyer is attached; the registration link and more information can be found at go.osu.edu/CNI.

Registration is due by Oct 31

The Washington County 4-H Advisory Committee budgets $150 help youth cover registration expenses.

CNI Flyer: CNI Flyer 2025

Beef & Sheep Small Farm Field Day – Oct 4

Have a small herd of beef cattle, goats, or a flock of sheep? Are you a new or beginning ruminant livestock producer? If yes to either of these questions, this program is for you.

Cost is $30 per person with lunch included. Space is limited to the first 40 to register by Monday, September 29

Link to register: https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6hFkmdlxuRmhZT8

Agenda

  • 9:00 Registration Opens
  • 9:30 Welcome and Introductions
  • 9:45 Morning Discussions:
    • Nutrition and Forages
    • Housing, ventilation, manure management
    • Livestock marketing
  • 12:00 Lunch
  • 12:45 Hands on
    • Efficiency (tools, equipment, and facilities)
    • Record keeping
    • Birthing supplies and simulators
    • Sheep – demo shearing, drench gun, trimming feet, FAMACHA
    • Beef – calving simulator, calf processing, BCS, cattle evaluation

 For more information, please contact Christine Gelley at gelley.2@osu.edu or Garth Ruff at ruff.72@osu.edu

Timeline for County 4-H Awards & Trips – Due Oct 9

Members can apply for 2025 Pin Awards and 2026 Trip Awards.

There is one application that does it all and you can choose the application that works best for you. See the options below.

Why Awards?

  • To recognize outstanding work by a 4‐H member at the end of a successful
  • To recognize a history, or an accumulation of successes throughout a 4‐H
  • To provide a career training opportunity for members to learn to complete an
  • To provide a basis for Ohio 4‐H Achievement Awards & College Scholarships

2026 Trip Details

  • Buckeye Leadership Workshop – Recreation Unlimited, Ashley, OH. March. Age 16 or high school sophomore.
  • State 4‐H Leadership Camp – 4‐H Camp Ohio, early June. Must be age 15 as of Jan 1st.
  • Ohio 4-H STEM Camp – Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp, Jackson, OH. June/July. Youth that have completed 5th, 6th, or 7th grades
  • 4‐H Forestry Wildlife Camp – Forestry & wildlife education, fishing, hiking, tree climbing. Canter’s Cave 4‐H Camp. Weekend in April. Ages 12‐18
  • 4‐H Sea Camp – Kelley’s Island, July, Must be ages 15‐17
  • Ohio 4‐H Sr. Shooting Education Camp – Canters Cave 4‐H Camp, Jackson, OH. July. Must be ages 12 – 18.
  • Ohio 4‐H Jr. Shooting Education Camp – Canters Cave 4‐H Camp, Jackson, OH. July. Must be age 9 – 12
  • Space Adventure Camp – Marietta College. June. Youth ages 11‐13 and/or grades 5 – 7.

Award Application for Members to Complete. Choose the format that works best for you!

Club Award Forms & Year End Recognition

  • Charlotte Wagner 4-H Club Community Service Award – due October 9, 2025 – Cash Prizes!
  • 2025 Honor Club Application (completed by club) – Cash Prizes!
  • 2025 Scrapbook Application/Score Sheet (completed by club)
  • October 9                   Member’s application due to Extension Office.  Extension Office removes names and adds numbers to applications to provide an anonymous packet for the Awards Selection Committee to review.
  • October 27                      Awards Selection Committee reviews applications and selects Project Pin and Special Pin Award Winners. Trip Committee interviews applicants and selects winners for 4-H Trips and Margaret Meredith award.
  • Early November          Award winners invited to attend the 4-H Year Celebration.
  • November 20                 4-H Year Celebration – Ice Cream Bar at 6:30 PM and program at 7:00 PM. at the Washington County Junior Fair Building. Award Applications are returned to applicants.

New Washington DC Conference for Teens – App Due Sept 15

Remember Citizenship Washington Focus? Well, it is now part of the Ignite by 4-H Conference and will be held in March 2026. Washington County has funds to support this teen opportunity!

What is Ignite by 4-H?

Ignite by 4‑H 2026 will be held in Washington, D.C., from March 25–29 at the Washington Hilton. Ignite by 4‑H remains the premier experience where teens discover their spark, connect with peers from across the country (and even the world), explore traditional and emerging career paths, and develop career and life readiness skills to become Beyond Ready for the future. In 2026, Ignite will offer six exciting programmatic tracks, allowing teens to focus on their passions, deepen their skills, and explore meaningful career pathways. Tracks for 2026: AgriScience, Community Accelerators, Healthy Living, STEM, Animal Science, Citizenship Washington Focus (Civic Engagement).

Application Guidelines:

  1. Applicants must have been enrolled in Washington County 4-H in 2024-25 and in good standing (completed projects) at least one year and must be enrolled in Washington County 4-H for 2025-26.
  2. Applicants must be at least ages 13-18
  3. Funding for scholarships is made possible by the Washington County 4-H Advisory Committee.  The committee will award two delegates annually.  Scholarship will cover 80% of the camp costs (approximately $1600).  Winners will be responsible for 20% of the conference fee (approximately $200).

Application: 2026 Ignite by 4-H Conference App

State TLC Apps for Teens Due August 8

Ohio 4-H Teen Leadership Council (TLC) applications for the 2025-26 year are now available and can be found on our website at go.osu.edu/TLC! Please let any interested individual know so they may apply. Please note, because it is only a one year term, current TLC members who wish to continue their service must re-apply. Every member will select a committee to join that is based on a program in Ohio 4-H (STEM, Healthy Living, College and Career Readiness, 4-H Promotion and Advocacy, and Animal Science) – they will be working closer with design teams to help review and provide feedback to programming as well as creating new programs and resources and advocating for that program and project area – see attached graphic for more details.

  • Applications and more information about the group can be found online at: go.osu.edu/TLC. Please note: applications (and other materials, including letters of recommendation and program fees) are due by Friday, August 8, 2025.  We recognize this falls during some county fairs, so encourage teens to apply early! We will accept applications as early as today 😊 The term for selected individuals will be September 1, 2025-August 31, 2026.

Free Advanced Training for Teen Drivers this Summer

The Ohio Traffic Safety Office is hosting free Advanced Driver Training for teens in the state of Ohio.  These events are apart of the “100 Deadliest Days” Campaign.  There are 3 classes to choose from across the state including DriveTeam, Professional Driving Systems, and Ford Driving Skills for Life.  These events are free for new teen drivers and registration is required.  Please see the flyer below for more information on times and dates for the events.