4-H News in Keith/Arthur Counties

• 4-H Calendar
• National 4-H Week
• Pumpkin Palooza
• 4-H Horse Judging Team Interest Form
• Save the Dates- Achievement Banquets
• Frequently Asked Post-Fair Questions- READ

• Club of Excellence application

• Achievement Application/Career Portfolios
• Achievement Application Help Workshop
• Diamond Clover
• Keith 4-H Council Scholarship
• Record Book and Letter Jacket patches

• State 4-H Updates/Events

• 2026-2027 4-H Enrollment
• Extra Fair Shirts
• Council Openings
• Extension Staff

October 1 & 2: Office Manager at Kearney for training

October 5: Arthur 4-H Council Meeting, Arthur Vet Hall, 6:00 pm tentative

October 4-10: National 4-H Week!

October 12: OFFICE CLOSED - Columbus Day

October 14: Keith 4-H Council Meeting, Roads, 5:30 tentative

October 16: PUMPKIN PALOOZA Arthur, 9am

October 17: PUMPKIN PALOOZA Ogallala, 9am

November 8: Keith 4-H Achievement Banquet, Fairgrounds, 2pm

November 15: Arthur 4-H Achievement Banquet, Veteran's Hall, 2pm

Deadlines:

October 5: Achievement Applications or Career Portfolios and Diamond Clovers deadline

October 12: PUMPKIN PALOOZA Sign up Deadline

October 19: Keith & Arthur County 4-H Horse Judging Team Interest Form deadline

October 30: Keith 4-H Council Scholarship deadline

Let’s paint the nation green! 💚🍀 We will be kicking off #National4HWeek with a bold splash of Nebraska 4-H spirit. Whether it’s a green hat, shirt, face paint, or even green socks—show the world you’re #4HBeyondReady! Watch our Facebook posts and share photos of you and your 4-Hers in GREEN!

Help us celebrate National 4-H Week!

We want to hear from our Keith & Arthur County 4-H members! Share your favorite 4-H project, a favorite memory, and a photo of yourself for a chance to be featured on our social media during National 4-H Week.

Submit your story here: https://forms.gle/7USx5t3XausLXGtUA

We can’t wait to celebrate our 4-H members and all the great things they’re doing!

Fall is here and Keith/Arthur County Extension is putting on a "PUMPKIN PALOOZA" in Arthur and Ogallala!

It will be a fun morning of all things pumpkins!!

• Learn about the life cycle of a pumpkin 🌱
• Make a fun pumpkin snack 🥧
• Decorate your own mini pumpkin 🎨
• Create a pumpkin themed craft 🧵

📆October 16th

📍Arthur Veterans' Hall
⌚9:00-NOON

📆October 17th
📍Keith Co. Fairgrounds
⌚9:00-NOON

💲Fee: $10

🧷Register: https://go.unl.edu/6fmo

⏳By: October, 12th

Keith & Arthur County 4-H is looking at starting a Horse Judging opportunity for local youth!

We will begin with an informational meeting to talk about what horse judging is, what participation looks like, and upcoming opportunities. Youth who are interested can then continue meeting regularly to learn, practice, and prepare for horse judging contests.

No previous horse judging experience is required! Whether you have been around horses for years or are just interested in learning something new, we would love to hear from you.

If you are interested, please complete the interest form below by October 19th. The information collected will help us plan the informational meeting and find a time that works for interested youth.

👉 Horse Judging Interest Form: https://forms.gle/Ues8buF8o6BobpE97

Questions? Contact Dani Forster, 4-H Youth Development Extension Instructor.

Postcard reminders will be sent out soon for both- please let the office know if your address is different than what was entered for Enrollment in 4-H Online!

"When will I receive my livestock sale check?"

Schow Auction Service and Ogallala Livestock Market work very hard to ensure that all buyers pay in a timely manner. They did a great job and the Livestock Sale checks for BOTH Arthur and Keith 4-H'ers are READY early this year and are available at the office for pickup!!

"When will I receive my fair premium money?"

The Keith and Arthur County Ag. Society will provide the fair premiums. The award money will be available later in the fall, likely ready to give out at the Achievement Banquets.

"When will my awards I won at the fair get here?"

Awards will be available later in the fall- Most of the plaques, trophies, etc will be available to be handed out at the Achievement Banquets.

As it is coming to the end of the 4-H year- that means it is reporting time! Keeping records/writing achievement applications is a great way to hold onto your memories about each incredible year you have in 4-H. In a couple of years, you can look through these applications and remember what fun you had. Keeping records is also a great way to develop your skills in communication, organize your time, document events and actions, evaluate your own efforts, set goals, etc.

*NOTE - Revised applications are available for 2026. They are called Achievement Applications. If youth ages 15-18 are interested in applying to National 4-H Conference, National 4-H Congress, or Scholarships - will need to fill out the new application. State level applications are due January 5th. For more information, check out this page: https://4h.unl.edu/statewide-events-opportunities/awards-recognition/achievement-application/

If you have previously done "Career Portfolios" and would like to continue doing so, you may- as a new member or someone who hasn't completed one before- we would encourage you to complete an "Achievement Application" instead.

Keith Curriculum Areas:

• Animal Science
• Communication & Expressive Arts
• Consumer & Family Sciences
• Environmental Education & Earth Sciences
• Healthy Lifestyles Education
• Leadership & Citizenship
• Plant Science
• Science & Technology

Arthur Curriculum Areas:

• Agriculture
• STEM
• Leadership & Entrepreneurship
• Healthy Living
• College & Career Preparation for My Future

Green folders for your portfolios/applications are available at the Extension Office for $5 each.

If you have any questions, please reach out or stop in! The workshop scheduled for 9/24 will be a wonderful opportunity to seek guidance and answers to any questions you may have! We hope many will attend, as a chance to work on it together and to help newer members too!

Deadline to submit Achievement Applications/Career Portfolios for both Keith & Arthur is MONDAY, October 5th!

Deadline to submit Diamond Clover is MONDAY, October 5. Forms are available on the Nebraska 4-H Diamond Clover website. If you aren't sure what level your youth has passed, we can let you know!

The Nebraska 4-H Diamond Clover program encourages 4-H youth to engage in a variety of programs, projects, and activities that will enable youth to acquire skills and abilities that will prepare them for success in the future. The program is designed to reach and recognize all youth engaged in 4-H, from club members and campers to school enrichment, afterschool, and special interest program participants. The program consists of six levels that require a young person to plan and report a broad range of age-appropriate accomplishments.

Rules

• Youth may only receive recognition at each level once.
• Youth may only receive one level of recognition per year.
• Youth should begin at Level 1 and progress through Level 6. However, youth who are older when beginning may opt to start at a higher level (2-4) as is mutually agreeable to the participant and the parent/guardian or leader. In order for older youth to begin at level 5 or 6, the Extension staff must also be in agreement.
• Approval: Levels 1–4 require the approval of a 4-H youth’s parent/guardian. If the 4-H youth belongs to a 4-H club, club leader approval is also required (if 4-H youth belongs to more than one club, choose one leader to work with). Levels 5 and 6 require the approval of the local county extension staff member.
• Accomplishments: Each level requires participants to complete a specified number of accomplishments. The 4-H participant may choose accomplishment listed for each level. The accomplishments are age appropriate and increase in quantity and difficulty for each level. Parents/guardians, leaders, and Extension staff may suggest other accomplishments — comparable to those provided — to improve the individual learning experience of each 4-H youth.

The Keith County 4-H Council offers a scholarship for graduating seniors of 2027! The scholarship does require youth have completed the annual Achievement Application/Career Portfolios. The scholarship will be awarded at the Achievement Banquet.

According to our records, below are the graduating 2027 seniors, If something is incorrect, let us know.

• Maddison Gartrell
• Chase Holm
• Ruby Schow

The application is below. If you would like it in a Word format, let us know. Please turn it to Tessa at the Extension Office. The scholarship deadline is October 30, 2026!

If you will be needing record books and/or are interested in us ordering letter jacket patches-

please let us know by September 11!!

Nebraska 4-H is excited to bring the 4-H Volunteer Road Show to volunteers statewide this November! The 4-H Volunteer Road Show will rotate host locations each year, get registered today at the location near you OR attend the virtual session! All registered participants will go in a drawing for a Shop 4-H digital gift card! The Volunteer Road Show is a great opportunity to experience project training and new ideas to bring back to your 4-H community. All 4-H volunteers, parents/caregivers and any adult wanting to find THEIR spark while volunteering with 4-H is welcome!

Visit https://4h.unl.edu/volunteer-road-show for more specific information and registration link. Registration closes one week prior to each Road Show session. Registration is $15 per person and includes light refreshments and all supplies for in-person attendees. Registration for virtual attendees is $10, which includes program materials.

• NASA TechRise is a free NASA challenge for middle and high school students. It invites student teams to submit experimental ideas to fly on a commercial space-industry high-altitude balloon for suborbital flight.
  
  The challenge includes information sessions for your department or organization upon request, free educational resources to foster classroom learning, and an exciting student virtual field trip in the fall. Sixty winning teams will also receive $1500 to build their experiment, a spot to test it on a NASA-sponsored flight, and technical support from NASA TechRise advisors. The challenge is a great way to get hands-on with a NASA project this school year, and we encourage teams of all skill levels to apply. Updated challenge resources (including videos, slide decks, and educator pacing guides) can all be found on the challenge website when the challenge opens.
  
  Millard North High School from Omaha had a winning team in 2025-26, and you can see their short video on the challenge website.

  More details at: https://www.futureengineers.org/nasatechrise

As students settle into a new school year, September is a great time to spark curiosity, build problem-solving skills, and explore new ways of thinking.

This month’s Spark Start highlights the Computer Science Unplugged activity on CLOVER by 4-H. Designed for youth in grades 3–12, this engaging series of hands-on activities introduces computer science concepts and computational thinking through everyday experiences such as games, cooking, gardening, and daily routines. Best of all, no computers are required.

For more info, visit:

The current 4-H fiscal year ended on September 30, 2026 and the new 4-H Enrollment for the 2026-2027 4-H year will open around mid-October.

Please make sure to keep this on your radar and get enrolled in 4-H for the new year! Deadline for 4-H Enrollment will be June 15.

Fair shirts are available at the Extension Office for $12 each- stop by or call to check on size availability! 🤗

As we are coming to the end of another 4-H year, please let us know if you would be interested in serving on the 4-H Councils. If you would like to learn more about what these roles would entail, please reach out to a Council or Staff.

Did you know there are several educators and professionals accountable for Keith and Arthur Counties and a larger region?

Find more information through our local personnel directory: here.

Nebraska Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln cooperating with the Counties and the United States Department of Agriculture. The 4-H Youth Development program abides with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Nebraska Extension in Keith & Arthur Counties

Keith-Arthur 4-H Newsletters

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