Potential 4-H Volunteer Applicants for the Darke County 4-H Youth Development Program must follow these guidelines:

• Submit a completed 4-H volunteer application and signed Standards of Behavior form to OSU Extension, Darke County, 603 Wagner Avenue, Greenville, OH 45331.  All sections of the application must be completed.  Incomplete applications will not be processed.
• Submit to a fingerprint background check.
• Complete an interview with the 4-H Educator.
• Attend a new volunteer orientation program.

What is the ideal 4-H club?  Many 4-H advisors and parents ask that question.  Actually, it's a complex question, and a simple answer is not really possible.  However, there are certain basic features that should be a part of every 4-H club.  Without them, no club could truly be effective, let alone ideal.  The basic "ingredients" are the following:

Focus should always be on the boys and girls who are the members in the club.  Why did they join?  What do they and their parents hope will happen as a part of their enrollment?  It is imperative that we offer programs that meet some of the expectations of the 4-H member; otherwise, they will quit.

The club should provide the opportunity for members to learn new knowledge and skills related to one of the 4-H projects.  The project books help guide the members' learning through activities and/or recommended practices and skill procedures.  Each year should be a challenge to the 4-Her to try new ideas or experiment with a different technique.  Members should be helped in setting goals; then they should be guided through the processes to achieve them.

Every member should be encouraged to become involved in learning some leadership skills.  There are many opportunities for this: e.g., being a member of a committee or giving a demonstration or talk.  Younger members should be helped in becoming involved in some beginning level leadership responsibility during the year.  Older members should be encouraged to increase their responsibility in leadership roles.

Club meetings should include a regular segment on health.  There are excellent 4-H health materials available for this from your County Extension Office.  Along with health, safety practices are very important.  The safety officer or committee should have a special safety program.

Citizenship should be emphasized.  There are many ways to encourage citizenship.  One of the simplest is to encourage members to have respect for each other, their advisor, parents and guests.  Another way is to let members discuss opinions of an idea or activity for the club; through this they experience group decision making, participate in the voting process and learn to support the majority rule.  Still other approaches to citizenship training are community service projects or investigation into how citizen's involvement makes improvements or helps people in need.  These ideas are a few examples.  There are many other approaches.

The club should provide recreation and social experience.  All work and no play makes a 4-H club dull.  4-H should be exciting, fun, positive and enjoyable.  Trying new ideas will make all members want to take part.

Members should be given the opportunity, and encouraged, to participate in county-wide events and activities, such as camp, county fair, demonstration contests, knowledge bowls, judging teams, safety speaking, etc.  These educational events and activities are designed to  help a 4-H member grow and develop.

In summary, the ideal - or at least, effective - 4-H club must be shaped with the members' interest and need in mind.  The club should help every member grow in knowledge, skill and attitude.  It should provide the opportunity for personal development in terms of self-motivation, self-confidence, self-discipline, and self-worth.  It should foster feelings of achievement.  The effective club and its positive worth will be realized by the advisor who knows and considers his/her members and inspires them to re-enroll each year for several years.  The bottom line is the 4-H club must be important, exciting and challenging and continually offer new experiences. 

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Visit Ohioline to view the following 4-H Fact Sheets:

To request a hard copy of any of these fact sheets, click here.

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Do not hesitate to contact the staff of OSU Extension, Darke County, if you have questions or need further information about the 4-H program in Darke County.  The Extension Office is open Monday through Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm.  Our telephone number is 937-548-5215.

We do have an answering machine for your convenience if you need to contact us after regular business hours. Or send us an e-mail to request further information about the Darke County 4-H Youth Development program. 

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