Source: Rachel Noble, 4-H youth development specialist

In Kentucky 4-H, we want our youth to grow up to be happy, productive adults who positively contribute to their communities. We strive to offer programs that help them get career and college ready, so it’s no surprise that many college-bound young people receive their first glimpse of college life in 4-H.

4-H offers many programs that build upon what young people are learning in their classrooms. Through the Cooperative Extension Service, we also provide research-based information that young people may use to complete 4-H projects.

In Kentucky, we also offer our youth opportunities to visit the campus of our land-grant university, the University of Kentucky. Our state officer candidates are slated during the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment’s Field Day. During the Field Day, youth compete against and network with their peers and college professionals during various agriculture-related contests.

Through our 4-H Teen Conference, delegates spend four days and three nights each June on the UK campus in Lexington. They live in the dorms, eat in the cafeterias and get to see various locations across campus and in the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, of which 4-H is a part. The event is also structured much like a college setting with 4-H’ers choosing a major subject, along with minor based on 4-H core values. Youth network with UK faculty and staff as the educational workshops parallel programs they could enter as a UK student.

For 44% of the more than 550 young people who attended the 2019 Teen Conference, it was their first experience at UK, and 81% reported it was the first time they had stayed in a UK dorm. Of the Teen Conference delegates surveyed, 91% indicated that they are likely to attend UK.

During the conference, numerous 4-H’ers received scholarships through the Kentucky 4-H Foundation to help pay for college. In 2019, the foundation awarded more than $21,000 to 139 Teen Conference delegates who participated in 4-H’s Achievement Program. The foundation gave more than $10,000 to 14 youth in post-secondary education scholarships.

To learn more about how 4-H can get your young person college ready, contact the COUNTY NAME) Extension office.

 Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expressions, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability.

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