Youth & Family News

Join us for an egg-citing episode of Energy Express! Mark Swiger, director of WVU Extension Service’s Energy Express program, will kick off the episode by reading us “The Good Egg.”

Next, we will “peep” over to Tasha Harris, agriculture and natural resources agent in Upshur County, and Jesica Streets, agriculture and natural resources agent in Tucker County, to learn all about eggs.

Ethan Ferris, 11, is a member of the Hardy County Mill Island 4-H club. He has participated in the State 4-H Presentation Expo for 3 years, because he really enjoys public speaking and sees the expo as a chance to better his public speaking abilities. This is important to him because he recognizes that he will need these skills all the time as he gets older; like for college interviews, job interviews, fundraising for community service projects, etc. He says, "Really, we will use it everywhere!"

West Virginia 4-H is proud to recognize 53 participants from 13 counties for their creativity and hard work in making their virtual presentations for the 2021 State 4-H Presentation Expo! 

The State 4-H Presentation Expo is an annual event that provides an opportunity for 4-H members to gain public speaking skills across three presentation types: 1) Public Speaking, 2) PowerPoint/Digital Presentation, and 3) Visual Presentations. New to the expo this year was the 4-H Creed contest. 4-H members submitted pre-recorded presentations they conducted in their county level contest to the state-level contest where they were judged by a range of Extension Faculty & Staff, 4-H volunteers, and collegiate 4-H'ers.

Our West Virginia 4-H team is working together with a group of researchers at West Virginia University on ways to improve 4-H camp experiences and the lives of youth across the state. We are currently running a study that asks about youths' 4-H camp experience, attitudes and beliefs. We want everyone to get an opportunity to share their experience, help improve future camp experiences and win some prizes! 

Teens from across West Virginia are invited to join us for a special financial literacy webinar series dedicated to what they need to know about money! 

West Virginia 4-H will be offering several Summer Sparks Virtual Sessions in the months of June and July.  Each Spark will be a one time 1-hour program. You may sign up any session that ‘sparks’ your interest. Check the full schedule below and picked your Spark Session based on participant’s age.  Session descriptions are below.  All programs will be conducted virtually on Zoom.  Once registration is completed you will receive the Zoom link. 

HOW DO I SIGN UP?

West Virginia 4-H is excited to announce our Summer 2021 virtual programming experiences that will launch in June. These virtual 4-H experiences will focus on different topic areas (Civic Engagement, Healthy Living, and STEM). The programs will meet daily for five sessions or meet weekly for four sessions. Do not hesitate to register. We anticipate these programs to fill quickly.

Youth voices offer unique perspectives, innovative ideas and valuable insights. As West Virginia  continues to move through the pandemic, teens want to know more about issues surrounding the public health crisis – now and in the future. Experts will give young people the “tea” (teen slang for “the scoop”) on a host of topics surrounding the pandemic during a special panel discussion on April 12, 2021, at 4 p.m.

The final spring virtual 4-H Special Interest (SPIN) clubs will start in mid-April in order to wrap up in May prior to our summer 4-H programs. These virtual 4-H SPIN clubs will focus on different topic areas and will last between four to six sessions. Do not hesitate to register.  Many of the SPIN clubs have filled quickly!

These 4-H SPIN clubs are open to 4-H members. Be sure to read each club description to determine which age groups are invited to participate. Each club is a little different.  Some clubs are designed to help 4-H members with their project work, but not all of them.  All youth are welcome to join a SPIN club to learn, no matter their project area!

Researchers of youth development from Tufts University and Boston College have started a new study examining adolescents’ beliefs, behaviors, and involvement in youth development programs. This study seeks to understand how youth develop in positive ways!