4-H and Youth Development

4-H is known as a family organization because it takes the whole family to help mold our young people into conscientious citizens.

4-H programs are planned to help develop life skills in citizenship and leadership.

The 4-H goal is to help young people become motivated, productive and contributing members of society as they “learn by doing.” Thousands of dedicated adult volunteers make achievement of these goals possible. The volunteers contribute their time, talents, and resources to maintain and expand the 4-H program.

El Paso County is fortunate to have many dedicated volunteer adult leaders. Because of them, our young people are outstanding and we are proud of their accomplishments. The future of our community, state, and nation is in good hands.

You too can join the ranks of 4-H volunteers and members in El Paso County “To Make The Best Better”.

Get Involved

If you call the Extension office, we can tell you when the next meeting is and you can fill out an enrollment form. Once enrolled you will be placed in one of four age divisions:

Clover Kids, Kindergarten through second grade. Children in this age division participate in project related learning experiences and have forms of recognition that are age appropriate. Clover Kids are not eligible for recognition programs and competitive events.
Juniors, Grades 3, 4 and 5
Intermediates, Grades 6, 6 and 8
Seniors, Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12

Programming Offered:

GEMS:

GEM: Get Experience in Mindfulness is an Awareness and Acceptance Stress Management Program for ages 10 and up – adults too! This program places an emphasis on stress management taught through practical and interactive mindfulness-based activities to facilitate experiential learning. The program is a research based and theory driven program that meets National Health Education Standards.

There are five lesson topics: Intentions and Goal Setting, Awareness and Attention, Self-care: Stress Reduction and Relaxation, Communication and Relationships, and Gratitude and Acceptance. Among other things, participants of the program will learn what mindfulness is and how to integrate it into daily life, alignment and form for over 25 strength and flexibility poses adapted from yoga poses, and relaxation techniques.

Egg to Chick:

The 4-H Embryology uses the experiential learning model to teach children to pick and count chicks, use an incubator, and building a brooder. Skills learned are observing, comparing, measuring, and communicating. This walks youth through the growing processes inside eggs as the embryo grows. Grades 2-5.

For grades 6-8 the advanced poultry guide is designed to provide facilitators and youth with background information and exciting experiential activities dealing with life science. It teaches kids the life skills that become important as they grow into adults. Youth will learn to set up incubators, candle eggs for progress measurement, and prepare a brooder box. This curriculum also teaches youth to observe the behavior of chicks after they hatch.

Learn, Go, Eat, Grow:

Through a linear set of hands-on lessons, your students will better understand plants and how they provide for people’s needs. The 10-week (2 lessons/week) unit of study will step your class through the process of establishing a thriving garden that is easy to create and maintain. The curriculum features opportunities for fresh vegetable tasting/evaluation, simple recipe demos, and physical activities that research shows can improve on-task behavior and academic performance

Link to online application
SALE Scholarship Application

Junior Master Gardener (JMG) Training

The JMG program is an international youth gardening program of the university cooperative Extension network JMG engages children in novel, “hands-on” group and individual learning experiences that provide a love of gardening, develop an appreciation for the environment, and cultivate the mind. If you are interested in taking your gardening program to the next level, don’t miss the JMG Training offered by the El Paso County AgriLife Extension Service.