Nebraska 4-H COVID-19 Information:
Our Response
Virtual & At-Home Learning
Supporting Young People
Nebraska 4-H News
Summer Camp Registration Now Open!
Registration for 2021 4-H Summer Camp is now open! Check out the selection of 4 and 5 day overnight camps being offered at the Nebraska State 4-H Camp in Halsey. The Nebraska State 4-H Camp is located within the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands which provides a beautiful place for all youth to discover, learn, and grow. Youth do not have to be a member of 4-H to attend a 4-H Summer Camp.
Chartered bus transportation is available for select camps for an additional $70 fee. Pick-up and drop-off locations for bus transportation will be available from UNL East Campus in Lincoln and Raising Nebraska in Grand Island. Please note that transportation is dependant on the number of sign-ups and may be canceled if numbers are low.
Register by January 31st to receive a 10% discount per session. Use the code EARLYBIRD21 at checkout.
Camp scholarships are also available. Scholarships cover $100 of the registration fee and must be awarded prior to registration.
NEW Winter Fun Pack Now Available
Looking for ways to keep your children busy during winter break? We've got you covered! From the team that brought you Living Room Learning, we're proud to announce our new Winter Fun Pack! We’re sharing 5 days' worth of activities that youth can easily do with materials that can be found at home. The Winter Fun Pack comes with instructional videos, easy-to-follow lessons, and family engagement activities to help fill the time at home during winter break. All these resources are available for FREE. Youth and families do not need to be involved in 4-H to access the resources or complete the activities.
Helping Youth Cope with Holiday Stresses
2020 is delivering more challenges than many of us have experienced before. The holiday season is quickly approaching and potentially could be more stressful than previous years given all of the events of the past year. As individuals and families plan holiday gatherings during a global pandemic, many will be modifying holiday traditions based on ensuring the safety and well-being of families and others. Breaking from rituals can be challenging and upsetting, however, with some planning and creative thinking these changes might help your family develop new traditions.
Children and youth often anxiously await the holidays which often mean a time to gather with family, share gifts, and participate in traditions such as baking favorite holiday foods, decorating one’s home, or attending religious celebrations. Changes to holiday traditions and routines might add to youth’s feelings of anxiety, sadness, or depression. Research shows that the social, emotional, and mental health of our youth have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The mental health impacts of COVID-19 and potential changes to a typical holiday routine can compound the feelings and emotions youth are experiencing.
Free educational resources for National Entrepreneurship Month
November is National Entrepreneurship Month! Did you know youth entrepreneurship is a program priority for Nebraska 4-H? Through various programs, Nebraska 4-H connects youth to important careers and strengthens their entrepreneurship skills. Entrepreneurship programs aim to increase the number of youth returning to rural communities in business and professions and to increase the number of youth who are entrepreneurs.
In celebration of National Entrepreneurship Month, teachers and educators are also invited to utilize a toolkit of free resources, including:
- Calendar of fun, easy activities to use as bell-ringers, energizers, and simple ways to engage students in entrepreneurial thinking
- Lesson plans designed to introduce students to entrepreneurship and building an entrepreneurial mindset by developing their non-cognitive skills
- Virtual field trips to connect students to real people working as entrepreneurs
- Spark to Start activity book containing activities, games, puzzles, and more to help students learn about starting a business
A sample Spark to Start activities book is also being sent to all 4th-grade teachers in Nebraska. To access the free resources, simply complete the classroom sign-up form.
2021 Enrollment Now Open!
Enrollment is now open for the 2021 program year! Enrollment is not required for many 4-H programs and events. However, club and independent members are required to officially enroll through 4-H Online each year to maintain membership. By enrolling, youth have the opportunity to participate in county fairs, the Nebraska State Fair, and additional statewide opportunities and events. Youth have the opportunity to enroll in specific projects which they plan to complete throughout the years. Club and project leaders must also enroll through 4-H Online each year.
There is no state-level fee for officially enrolling. However, some counties or clubs may implement their own annual fees. Please contact your local 4-H office for more information.
While enrollment is open year-round, youth interested in participating in their county fair or the Nebraska State Fair must complete the online enrollment process no later than June 15th.
Enrollment instructions are available for new club members, returning club members, new club leaders, and returning club leaders.
State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest Results Now Available
Congratulations to the 27 4-H members who participated in the 2020 State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest. The contest which is typically held at the Nebraska State Fair, was held virtually this year from October 5th through the 12th. Eleven intermediates and 16 seniors competed in the virtual contest, and a total of 12 counties were represented.
Intermediate Individuals
- Brooke Hilgenkamp, Washington County
- Cora Payne, Seward County
- Justine Wilkinson, Scotts Bluff County
- Hannah Koziol, Richardson County
- Kaid Hogan, Lincoln County
Intermediate Teams
- Seward County - Cora Payne, Masa Brown, Ava Fischer
- Washington County - Brooke Hilgenkamp, Aaron Fuchs, Ethan Hilgenkamp
Senior Individuals
- Chase Racicky, Custer County
- Allison Engelman, Jefferson County
- Jenna Ruge, Madison County
- Jacey Leech, Richardson County
- Kaitlyn Hanson, Saunders County
Senior Teams
- Richardson County - Jacey Leech, Abby Stalder, Hannah Kozial, Peyton Schaardt
Top Five Special Award Winners
- Chase Racicky, Custer County
- Allison Engelman, Jefferson County
- Jenna Ruge, Madison County
- Jacey Leech, Richardson County
- Kaitlyn Hanson, Saunders County
New Self-Paced Biomedical Engineering Camp Now Available
Do you enjoy learning STEM and have an interest in learning about real-world medical problems? In this engaging hands-on program, youth will use the engineering design process to work through Biomedical Engineering challenges. Youth will get to participate in activities like:
- Nanotechnology in the Body,
- Laparoscopic Surgery,
- Biomedicine in Space, and
- Prosthetics and Pills.
Youth will also get to experience a Biomedical Career Day where they will listen and work with staff from UNMC. Youth won't want to miss it!
This virtual self-paced camp is offered in partnership with Imagine Science! Imagine Science is an unprecedented partnership between four leading national youth organizations to bridge the STEM gap by igniting the imagination of historically underrepresented youth. We believe in the next generation of problem solvers and innovators. By 2022 the U.S. will be short 1 million needed STEM professionals. Too few young people are pursuing STEM careers. We believe that prolonged, informal exposure to STEM increases a child's interest and builds a foundation for proficiency through high school and beyond. Nebraska 4-H is proud to partner with Imagine Science to deliver STEM programming to 4th-8th grade youth in and around Omaha, Nebraska.
Eastern Nebraska 4-H Center News
Since 1976, when the initial group of 235 campers arrived at the Eastern Nebraska 4-H Center to enjoy a week of summer fun, our mission has been to serve the youth of Nebraska and provide opportunities for them to Discover, Learn, and Grow. Over the past 44 years, we have been successful in supporting our mission through a variety of program options, including adult and youth retreat, outdoor education, summer overnight camp, and day camp programs.
As you know, COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on the world that we once knew, including having significant impacts to our camp program. In early April, we made the very difficult decision to cancel all of our in-person programs including spring outdoor education and summer camp events. As a primarily seasonal business where most of our operating revenues are collected during the summer months to support our operations year-round, this decision had a significant impact on our budget. Thankfully, as sound fiscal managers, we had a reserve revenue fund to continue to operate through this time to continue programming virtually and salaries for five full-time employees. Unfortunately, we have come to the end of this reserve fund and discussions have turned to our next steps.
As part of the process, we explored how the Nebraska 4-H camp program can better reach youth where they are with innovative programs, utilizing research-based curricula delivered with a hands-on experimental learning model by talented youth development professionals. We are pleased to announce a NEW environmental education program series that will include both virtual and place-based programs for schools, home-school families, and afterschool programs. Of course, current and future 4-H members will always be among our key clients. As part of our goal to reach more youth, and with thoughtful consideration of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, our state 4-H team, and the Nebraska 4-H Foundation, we have made the extremely difficult decision to cease all operations at the Eastern Nebraska 4-H Center in Gretna effective August 1, 2020.
While we may not have the same site presence, one thing that remains the same is our commitment to our partnership with you to help us work toward our mission to provide opportunities for youth to Discover, Learn, and Grow and we invite you to consider continuing your partnership with Nebraska 4-H in various ways.
Although we are disappointed in the closure of the Eastern Nebraska 4-H Center, we are hopeful that our renewed commitment to broader environmental education offerings for youth will bring a new era of Nebraska 4-H Camping.
State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest moving foward
The 2020 State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest will be held on Sunday, September 20th at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Animal Science Complex. Registration/Check-in will be at 7:00 AM that morning with the contest beginning at 8:00 AM. As of now, the National 4-H Livestock Judging Contest is moving forward as planned, and our state-level contest is vital for a team to qualify for the national level.
There will be changes to this year's contest:
- This will be a senior division only contest. Each team will be limited to 5 contestants and only one coach and one other chaperone if needed.
- Everyone attending the contest will wear a mask and hand sanitizing stations will be present throughout the facility.
- Livestock classes will be arranged in a more spread-out fashion and we may implement a 2-round system for the placings portion of the contest.
- Youth will maintain at least a 10-foot distance from the reasons takers during that portion of the competition.
- We will not arrange a live awards ceremony on site. Awards will be announced online. Awards will be mailed.
- We will not provide any pencils, clipboards, paper, etc. Each team must bring their own materials. We will only handout placing cards and contestant numbers in the team packets.
- We will not provide lunch. We plan to have the contest finished by 1:00-2:00 PM. If a hotel room is needed for Saturday night, the Staybridge Suites I-80 will be providing a special rate.
If hotel rooms are needed for Saturday night, the Staybridge Suites I-80 will be providing a special rate.
Registration is open now and will close at noon on Wednesday, September 16th. Registration must be completed through county Extension offices.
Nebraska 4-H'ers compete in national 4-H film festival
Following their dreams in an age of pandemic, 4-H youth from 17 states gathered online for the national 4-H film festival. The 10th annual FilmFest 4-H was held on August 1-2. FilmFest 4-H is a national film festival for youth filmmakers, visual artists, actors, as well as any 4-H'ers interested in learning more about the film industry and meeting other creative people from across the country. FilmFest 4-H helps youth become producers, not just consumers, of digital media. Now in its 10th year, FilmFest 4-H celebrated its decade-long run with the film industry workshops and youth-produced films it has become known for.
Two Nebraska 4-H members were recognized for their films.
- Riley Peterson (15) of Lancaster County was awarded 2nd Place Documentary for his video titled Inspiring 4-H Archers.
- Andrew Donlan (12) of Lancaster County received 2nd Place Animation with his stop-motion film, Journey in July.
The 2020 FilmFest 4-H was open to youth ages 11-18, and participants hailed from Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas. Video categories included Animation, Documentary, Narrative, One Minute Movie, Promotional, and Voices of 4-H History.
In addition to submitting their own digital video creations, participants also engaged in educational film industry workshops over the weekend. LA-based actress Linara Washington shared strategies from her career working on tv series like NCIS and Grey's Anatomy, and in films alongside Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini. From New York, Emmy winning producer Matthew C. Mills helped youth understand film industry roles ranging from interns to executive producers, sharing career advice from his work with companies like HBO, MTV, CBS, and Food Network. Producer Chad Freidrichs taught youth how to secure archival footage for documentaries, using methods that are both professional and legal. This year also featured the first FilmFest 4-H Screenplay Challenge, with youth submitting scripts that were evaluated by LA-based writer-producer Mariana Hope (Friday Night Lights, The Kicks).