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Enrolling Your 4-H Club
How do I Get my Club Enrolled in 4-H?
Member/Leader Enrollment Information
First, we'll start off with enrollment forms and what is expected in terms of their completion and who should complete an enrollment form. Every member, cloverbud, and volunteer working with 4-H in Athens County is required to complete and return an Individual Enrollment Form. For more clarification concerning enrollment and completion of forms, as well as their necessity, you should read the "Step By Step Guide to Enrolling Your 4-H Club".
Make sure that all information is correct and up-to-date. This is EXTREMELY important so that you get your mailings on-time, every time. Make sure that the birth date is filled in completely, as well as racial/ethnic designation, as these are very important to Ohio State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for their statistics. List their projects by number in the space provided. Do not simply write "Hog" if your member wishes to take a market hog project. We have no way of knowing if they desire to take a market or breeding project. Provide the project number on the enrollment form.
If you have an email, WRITE IT IN. As we have been forced to pare our office staff and our postal budget, we are no longer able to provide hard copy newsletters by mail as we have in the past. However, the newsletters will be online in their entirety. By providing us with your email address, we can alert you to the availability of new newsletters instantly. If you provide us with an email, keep in mind that you will receive notifications from either the Athens County Extension address or the address of Matt Davis, Program Assistant for 4-H in Athens County. Please do not overlook or delete these emails, as you will miss important information regarding 4-H programming in Athens County. Send an email to Matt Davis at davis.1977@cfaes.osu.edu to let him know you are interested in receiving email updates regarding Athens County 4-H. If you do not have access to the internet from home, never fear. The public library system in Athens is an excellent resource for you to gain access to what is online at http://athens.osu.edu. The library staff are more than helpful, and will make sure you find what you are looking for if you are willing to ask. Parents - do not forget to sign the enrollment form.
In addition to the individual form, organizational advisors are required to complete and return the County Enrollment Quick Reference Card. It contains much of the same information that is contained within the Individual Enrollment Form, but is in a more concise package for easy archiving by each county office. ALL ENROLLMENT IS DUE BY APRIL 1 IF YOU ARE STRIVING FOR MAXIMUM HONOR CLUB POINTS, OR BY APRIL 15 IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COMPETE FOR HONOR CLUB STATUS, OTHERWISE, MAY 1 IS THE FINAL DEADLINE FOR ALL ENROLLMENTS.
Officer Literature
In years past, Ohio State University Extension's Department of Communications and Technology has provided officer's books to Extension Offices at minimal charge, enabling offices to distribute officer materials at no charge to 4-H clubs. This is no longer the case. They are no longer printing officer books and have asked counties to provide a way for 4-H club officers to receive their materials. All officer books are contained on this CDROM, and are to be printed by the clubs. Click on the appropriate officer below to view and print the literature.
Also included with this tutorial are some sample ideas for Installation of Officers at the start of the enrollment year.
Organizational Resources
As an organizational leader, the first thing you will need is the 2007 Family Guide to 4-H. This booklet gives a short description of all of the projects available through Ohio 4-H, as well as a listing of what is new, discontinued, and being replaced by something else. In the back, you will also find a listing of events and opportunities for your 4-H members.
Once your members have decided what projects they would like to take, you will need to print the Advisor Literature Order Form, complete it, and return it to our office with your payment for the literature so that we can either fill your order immediately, or order it in for the next week's shipment from Ohio State. Use the Book Tally Sheet to keep track of the total number of books that you will need to keep in your own records.
There are other important resources available in this section that are very helpful to the volunteer working with youth as is relates to the goals of 4-H, which is experienced based, hands-on learning. For more information on the experience-based curriculum that 4-H intends to use, consult Developing an Experience-Based Curricula. At your first meeting of the year, you should develop a program plan that encompasses all of the meetings and activities that your club members and volunteers plan to participate in. You can use the Design Your Own Clover activity to help members choose what they would most like to learn throughout the year. Of the things that members should learn are effective communication skills, especially public speaking. There are two resources available on this tutorial, Tools for Public Speaking (member copy) and Tools for Teaching Public Speaking (leader copy). Running effective meetings is also very important, not only to the 4-H member, but also when you are asked to participate as an adult. Planning your meeting agenda in advance will go a long way in making sure that meetings are short, to the point, and more fun for everyone involved. Use the Agenda Planning Worksheet to develop each meeting's agenda in advance. Following each meeting, the club secretary should complete and return a Club Report Card to the Extension Office describing the location, attendance, and topics of that meeting, as well as the date, time, and location of the next meeting of your club. If they wish, they may also use the News Report Form to write a press release for publishing in the Athens Messenger. At each meeting, one member should give an illustration or an illustrated talk. For more information, please consult the Demonstrations publication. These and other topics are also discussed in Working with Officers and Committees.
Unfortunately, many young people now live in a broken home with a single parent, though both parents share childcare responsibilities. It is important that you know with whom your members are to be released from club activities. There are two forms that might need to be completed in such cases: the Member Early Release form, and the Member Restricted Release form. The Early Release form is to be completed when a 4-H member will be unable to complete a program because they must leave early. This form designates who may pick up a particular child from such an activity. The Restricted Release form should be completed by the parent designating who is permitted to pick up a child from the end of a 4-H activity. These forms are provided for your protection, please use them as necessary.
A couple more forms that are necessary for us to correctly verify what your members are planning on exhibiting at the fair and how many fair passes they will require are the Junior Fair Entry Form and the Fair Pass Tally Sheet. Complete the Junior Fair Entry Form for every member that is planning on exhibiting any project at the fair, including any still projects that they have had judged this year. For livestock exhibitors, please designate whether or not they intend to show showmanship, as this information will be helpful in building the fair shows. These forms are not due into our office until July, they are not necessary at the beginning of the enrollment year. We will accept Junior Fair entry forms up until the last Friday in July. For more information about the basics of completing a Junior Fair Entry Form and why they are important, take the time to read the Junior Fair Entry Information help sheet.
One of the most stressful days for everyone is the day you check out of your stall to leave the fair. On that day, you can expect to tear down any decorations it took you hours to assemble and place, all of your exhibits in any building, take your left-over animal home, and many times, your child or club member has spent the entire night up in the barn spending the last few quality hours with an animal they've managed to get attached to. Add to that you need to pick up the premiums your club members have earned from participation at the fair. In order to clear up any possible questions that may arise ahead of time, we've prepared this fact sheet to serve as a quick reference as to what you might expect - "Checking Out of Your Animal Pens at the Fair". Of course, please don't hesitate to ask Matt or Penne if you need any clarification.
Project Materials
As in the Organizational Materials section the 2007 Family Guide to 4-H is very important. This book helps members, parents, and leaders select projects that are appropriate for each member according to their level of experience in the subject area, as well as what they hope to learn from their project. Though no project books are available on this CDROM, guides to the Self Determined Projects are available. If a member is interested in completing a self-determined project, please consult the idea starters listed below. If none of these idea starters fit their concept of what they would like to pursue, then they are welcome to develop their own.
Weather
Reptiles and Amphibians
Other Project Books Available Online:
In addition to the Self-Determined guides listed above, Project #422 (Clue Yourself Into Modeling) and Project # 959 (4-H Achieves Lift-Off - An Advisor's Guide to Creative Project Activities) are also available on this tutorial.
Rockets Away Resources Website
Science of Flight Resources Website
Weather Together Group Project Resources Website
A couple of other resources available to the club leader are the Project Learning Guide, and the Discovering 4-H Advisor's Guide which give tips on helping members with their projects and acquiring resources that will help the leader be a more effective teacher.
When it comes time for a member's project to be judged, they will likely be nervous and apprehensive because they won't know what questions they might be asked about their project. Here is a list of Judging Tips for the 4-H member to look over to help them understand that what they are participating in is an interview. They should show that they are excited about their project and eager to share what they have learned in the process.
Animal Registration Information
It is important to remember that the focus of a livestock project should not be how much money they can get for their animal at the Junior Fair Livestock Sale. The focus should be on what they learn throughout the project to make them a better agricultural producer. In keeping with this philosophy, I have assembled some good handouts for volunteers and members alike that were created by Jodi Black at the state 4-H Office:
The 10 Commandments of 4-H Livestock Projects
Innovative Meeting Activities for 4-H Livestock Clubs
Incorporating Project and Record Books into Livestock Meetings
Winning and Losing at Livestock Shows
All animal registrations for breeding and market projects (with the exception of turkeys (second Wednesday in February) and steers (second Saturday in December) are due the SECOND WEDNESDAY IN MAY. Do note that one some forms such as the Beef Breeding Registration Form that birthdates and classes are listed as 1 year ago, 2 years ago, etc. So if you are showing the calf in 2004, and it was born on June 21, 2003, it would be eligible to participate in the Summer Yearling Heifer class since it was born between the dates May 1 and August 31, LAST YEAR. This is just an example of how the forms have been modified so that they do not need to be altered from year to year. Please call Matt at the Extension Office with any questions regarding livestock registration forms and information. Click below to view and print the registration form of your choice.
Breeding Beef Registration Form
Breeding Poultry Registration Form
Breeding Rabbit Registration Form
Dairy Cattle Registration Form
Breeding Gilt Registration Form
Horse Identification Form (Green Sheet)
Horse Project Disclosure and Release of Claims Form
Breeding Lamb Registration Form
Junior Fair Market Dairy Feeder Registration Form
Junior Fair Market Goat Registration Form
Junior Fair Market Lamb Registration Form
Junior Fair Market Poultry Registration and Order Form
Junior Fair Market Rabbit Registration Form
Junior Fair Market Swine Registration Form
Junior Fair Market Turkey Registration Form - Due the Second Wednesday in February
Performance Against Standard State Fair Qualifying Horse Show Registration - Due June 1
Once again, with the exception of turkeys and steers, all breeding animal registration information is due to the Extension Office by the SECOND WEDNESDAY IN MAY. For sales committee rules, regulations, and dates, consult with a sales committee member or the Junior Fair Market Project Handbook.
Awards
There are several awards that members can receive throughout the year. For example, the 4-H Committee awards 4-H Camp Scholarships to members based on need and desire to attend 4-H Camp at Tar Hollow. Need-based and first-year camp attendance have the best opportunity for an award, but don't hesitate to apply by completing the 4-H Camp Scholarship Form and returning it to the Extension Office.
Another award is the Trip/Conference/Camp awards that are also given by the 4-H Committee. If you would like to go to Conservation Camp, Leadership Camp, or the Citizenship Washington Focus trips, you can apply for partial scholarships through the 4-H Committee by completing the Award Trip Application Form and returning it to the Extension Office.
One of the awards that is available to livestock exhibitors is called the Outstanding Exhibitor Award. Outstanding exhibitors are selected based on a 300 point scale. 100 points is possible for a Skill-A-Thon assessment, with a minimum of 50 points given for participation. 100 points is possible based on placing in the showmanship class for each particular species category (Goats, Lambs, Poultry, etc.), with a minimum of 50 points awarded for participation in a showmanship class. 100 points are possible based on placing in any breed or market class, with a minimum of 50 points awarded for participation. In order to be eligible to receive an Outstanding Exhibitor Award, the exhibitor must complete each of the 3 phases. For more detailed information about Outstanding Exhibitor Awards, you should to read this fact sheet titled "Skill-A-Thon and Outstanding Exhibitor - Linked for a Purpose".
