Scotts Bluff County 4-H

• 4HOnline is UP and now ready for your 2024 enrollment application! v2.4honline.com

  
  

  If you registered your child last year, you still need to register on 4HOnline for this year!

  
  

  For returning families, please do not create a new account; instead, use your log-in credentials for 4honline used in previous years. Instructions can be found here: https://4h.unl.edu/enroll/returning-member

  Enrollment instructions for new families can be found here: https://4h.unl.edu/enroll/new-member

• Starting in the 2023-2024 program year, project selection is now optional. By successfully completing the 4-H member enrollment by the June 15th deadline, youth will be eligible to participate and exhibit in any project area, contest, county and state fairs. While project selection is optional, it is encouraged for youth to select projects they are interested in exploring. Shooting Sports and Horse participants must sign up for a least one project to agree to the consents to participate.

• Nebraska 4-H is implementing a new 4-H Volunteer Orientation, which is part of the volunteer screening process.

• Direct volunteers are required to complete the 4-H Volunteer Orientation during enrollment as a new volunteer and/or during the re-screening process every five years.

• Volunteers and staff are invited to complete the orientation at any time.

• The volunteer orientation link is located in the direct volunteer screening information in 4honline.

• Upon completion, the county office the volunteer selected during the orientation will receive a confirmation email. In 4honline, under the volunteer profile, there is a field to indicate the volunteer orientation completion date.

• The volunteer also receives an email confirming their completion.

• The volunteer orientation can also be found on the public website: https://4h.unl.edu/volunteer-orientation

• The volunteer orientation will take approximately 45 minutes to complete. Users are not required to complete the orientation in one session.

Beef weigh-in will take place at the UNL PREEC Feedlot on February 17 and March 16, 2024 from 1:00-2:30p.m. The UNL Feedlot is located north of Scottsbluff off of Experiment Farm Road. Call 632-1480 if you need directions!

County tags are $1 each and we will have all the paperwork needed. If you are interested in showing market beef, breeding, beef, or feeder calf at State Fair you will need an EID tag ($3) and MUST submit a DNA kit for these animals. DNA Kits will be available at the weigh-in and are due to the Nebraska Extension Office before June 15. To finish your nomination for State Fair you must submit nomination info and fees online.

Contact the Extension Office if you have questions

4-H Assistant Stephanie Connelly is leaving her position and will be leaving the area to further her teaching career. We are having a lunch at the center on December 1 from 11:30am-1:00pm in the PREEC Library. If you would like to say good-bye, stop by. Stephanie's last day will be December 12th.

Your County Fair ribbon premium money will not be mailed this year. Please come by the Extension Office to pick it up. We'll hold onto it until the end of February and then return the balance to the Ag Society.

There are a few county and state fair projects left at the office, please come and pick them up!

Instructor Karen Jump will lead a painting workshop at the Panhandle Research Education and Extension Center on December 5 at 6:00p.m. All supplies will be provided along with an 8x10 canvas.

The workshop is open to all ages! Cost is $15.00 per person. There are limited scholarship funds for the registration fee. The picture will be complete at the end of the class.

Please call the Extension Office at 308-632-1480 to register so that there are enough supplies on hand.

This painting possibly would fit under class 9 Miscellaneous Crafts for a fair project as it's an instructor-led painting that is not an original.

Club leaders are required to submit a year end treasurer’s report to your local Extension Office by the end of January for each bank or savings account your club or council has. Year End Report

paperwork needs to be filled out and returned to our office by January 31. Paperwork will be

sent to Organizational Club Leaders or forms are also available at the Extension Office or

online at: https://4h.unl.edu/clubs/irs-tax-exemption.

Thank you to all of our families who joined us in celebrating the end of our 2022-2023 4-H year! A special shoutout to the Committee Julie Lane and Laurie Zitterkopf!

Overall Achievement Awards went to: 1st Junior - Hunter Creech, 1st Senior - Ella Anderson, 2nd Junior - Brooklynn Creech, 2nd Senior - Emma Robbins.

Diamond Clover Awards:

Amethyst: Gage Creech, Tatum Pittman, Daisy Myers

Aquamarine: Joseph Kessler, Bryson Gaul, Lillian Debus, Travis Davison, Summer Banghart, Mariella Myers.

Ruby: Allura Helphingstine, Hunter Creech, Brooklyn Creech, Haley Davison, Paityn Heine, Riley Ricker.

Sapphire: Kayla Davison, Brecken Ricker.

We are excited to announce the fourth year of the Nebraska 4-H Livestock Achievement Program. This additional opportunity for enrolled livestock project youth is designed to promote all educational aspects of 4-H livestock projects including selection, production, leadership, and exhibition by recognizing youth striving to improve their livestock project knowledge and leadership.

The program recognizes Members of Excellence across all 4-H livestock project areas including: beef, sheep, meat goat, swine, dairy cattle, dairy goat, rabbit, and poultry.

The program consists of three levels that require 4-H members to plan and report a broad range of age-appropriate and project-related accomplishments. For each level, the Livestock Achievement Program provides a list of accomplishments from which 4-H members choose their goals. Each accomplishment is worth a specific number of points. Junior 8-9 submits pictures, posters, presentations, and other learning activities to receive the distinction of Junior Member of Excellence, no point value. Intermediates, ages 10-13, must complete 100 points worth of activities to receive the distinction of Intermediate Member of Excellence. Seniors, ages 14-18, must complete 150 points worth of activities to receive the distinction of Senior Member of Excellence. The Plan and Reports page shows examples of the project related accomplishments they can choose, or they can identify their own with approval of their local educator.

Application/Sign up is due June 15th through the application form link on the website. Plan and Reports, as well as Project Records will be due August 1 via the completion form on the website.

Youth completing the Achievement Program and receiving Member of Excellence recognition in the various species will be recognized during the Parade of Champions, 4-H weekend at the Nebraska State Fair.

For more information or to apply, go to: Livestock Achievement Program | Nebraska 4-H (unl.edu)

The focus of the 2024 project is the Princess of India Nasturtium.

This Victorian-era heirloom flower can be grown in a variety of ways including in containers. It provides a splash of color from its scarlet flowers and much of the plant can be eaten.

With the changes to 4-H Online, youth are encouraged to enroll for Horticulture/Plant Science through 4-H Online. Youth will have to reach out to their local Extension Office to sign up and order the seeds.

Learn more at https://4h.unl.edu/special-garden-project

This is a fantastic trip! Extension Educator Sarah Paisley will be taking a group from the Panhandle in June 2025. If you are interested, you need to reach out to Sarah. The anticipated cost for 10-11 days is $3,000 so we need to start doing some fundraising sooner than later! If you have questions or are interested, reach to Sarah at spaisley3@unl.edu or 308-750-8513.

CWF, short for Citizen Washington, D.C. Focus, is a capstone project for 4-H members. Throughout your years in 4-H, you have hopefully learned a lot of new skills and subject matter. However, to really integrate communication skills, leadership, and civics, National 4-H has developed and provided an opportunity for youth across the nation to come together in the nation’s capital to learn and demonstrate these skills. During the week-long trip to Washington, D.C. you will meet new friends; tour MANY different monuments, buildings and memorials; interact with our state representatives; and explore ideas that will help you become a more well-rounded citizen.

To be eligible for the Nebraska 4-H Foundation Scholarships, students must submit their Achievement application by email to 4HAchieves@unl.edu. The state-level application submission deadline is January 5. Files should be labeled with the applicants last name, first name, and county. For example: "Walker Robin Douglas-Sarpy.pdf".

For a list of available scholarships visit https://www.ne4hfoundation.org/scholarships/.

Engler is an entrepreneurship program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Our mission is to embolden our people on the courageous pursuit of their purpose through the art and practice of entrepreneurship. Rather than sit in lecture halls all day, Engler students engage in entrepreneurship the time-tested, tried-and-true way: learning by doing.

Engler is for the students who recognize that college should be more than just homework and grades — those who are not content waiting four years to start building their future and desire more than the generic college experience. If you’re passionate about entrepreneurship or are interested in pursuing your purpose, you’re in the right place. Our students come from a wide variety of majors and disciplines, and we welcome all kinds of entrepreneurs and businesses. Engler is a place where future engineers, marketers, scientists, artists, programmers, farmers, and many others collaborate to build enterprises and wage war with the status quo. Whether you’re from small-town Nebraska or a big city on the other side of the globe, you can find a home here.

You can also contact englerrecruitment@unl.edu or visit englerjourney.com.

Deadline to apply is January 15, 2024.

As you know, in 2023, Nebraska 4-H lowered the age limit for participation in the Nebraska State Fair for all in-person events to nine years of age. That change increased our participation and provided more youth the opportunity to have an engaging learning experience. We had many positive comments from legacy families as well as new.

This fall, we have had follow-up conversations with many of you as well as the show superintendents and various teams that run these events during State Fair and throughout the year. Based on that feedback and our goal of increasing access, the decision has been made to change the age of eligibility in 2024 to be 8 years of age before January 1 (of the current year) for all in-person State Fair events (livestock, contests, fashion shows, contests) and other state competitions (Fonner Park State 4-H Horse Expo, PASE, communications contest). Note: there will be some events that will maintain their ages due to specific program rules (shooting sports, FIRST LEGO League Challenge robotics). Please check information on each specific event as it becomes available.

Email: scotts-bluff-county@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/scottsbluff-morrill/
Location: 4502 Ave I, Scottsbluff, NE 69361
Phone: 308-632-1480
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scottsbluffco4h

The University of Nebraska does not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation in its programs, activities, or employment.