4-H & Youth

COVID-19 Update

In response to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor and State Superintendent of Schools have announced their decision to extend the closure of public schools through April 24, 2020. As such, the University of Maryland Extension 4-H Program will extend the suspension of all in-person 4-H events, practices, club meetings, and programs through April 24th. Additional information will be shared as we approach that date. 

Additionally, many University of Maryland 4-H faculty and staff are required to telework over the coming weeks. If you have immediate questions or concerns, please contact your local or state office via e-mail: https://agnr.umd.edu/about/directory.  We will reassess these restrictions as new updates and directives come from our Governor and Campus leadership. 

Updates on upcoming State 4-H Events

Maryland 4-H Horse Communications Contest: We are providing this notice of further revisions to the format for the 2020 Horse Communications Contest. We are now asking participants to register for the contest by April 15th and submit a recording of their presentation via email to Becca Bittner at regunder@umd.edu by May 1, 2020. Participants will need access to a recording device/mic. Once all of the recordings are received by May 1, the recordings will be sent to a panel of judges, and the award winners will be announced following completion of judging.

Video Recording: There are multiple free platforms to record your presentation: Phone, Video Camera, Zoom (https://zoom.us/ent?zcid=2582), Skype (https://www.skype.com/en/), or other recording programs. Participants should contact Becca Bittner or Chris Anderson  if they do not have access to this technology, or need assistance finding a recording platform to use. 

Contest Registration: 4-H members should contact their local 4-H county/city office to register. The office will need to know the member age division (Junior, Intermediate/Senior) and category (Individual Presentation, Team Presentation, or Individual Public Speech). The Registration Worksheet to collect local registration information has been emailed to 4-H faculty/staff.

Deadline to Register: County/city offices should email their completed Contest Registration Worksheet to Becca at regunder@umd.edu by April 15, 2020.

Questions: Please contact Becca (regunder@umd.edu) or Chris (canders2@umd.edu)  if you have questions.

Maryland 4-H Dairy Bowl: The Maryland 4-H Dairy Bowl Contest scheduled to be held on Saturday, April 18th on campus will be postponed. Pre-event testing and team practices will be negatively impacted by current restrictions. Discussions are underway to identify an alternative date and will be shared once determined.

Public Speaking: The University has canceled the 2020 Maryland Day scheduled for April 25th. We have historically held the Maryland 4-H Public Speaking contest during this event and will not be able to proceed with this plan. We are currently discussing potential options for this contest and will update you once a decision has been made.

4-H Robotics Challenge Workshop: The MD 4-H Robotics Challenge Workshop, meant to help prepare teams for the 4-H Lego Robotics and Robotics Engineering Challenges, were to be held at the USRA STEMaction Center on April 4. This event will now be held as a webinar, where youth and families can join to learn more about the 2020 Challenges, ask questions, and discuss strategies. Links to the webinar will be sent out to registered attendees as we get closer to the date.

Date: April 4, 2020

Time: 1pm-4pm

Location: Virtual (formally at USRA STEMaction Center)

Registration: $5 Fee

More information about the MD 4-H Robotics Challenges in general can be found at: https://extension.umd.edu/4-h/4-h-program-areas/robotics-0

Engineering Camp: Engineering Camp was originally to be held April 17-19 at “The Rocks” 4-H Camp in Harford County. We will not be able to proceed with the camp at this date. Further discussions will lead to the decision on postponing the event until later this year or cancelling it for 2020 altogether. We will share more information once a final decision has been made.

State Camp Training: The State Camp Training scheduled for March 21st at the Frederick County 4-H Camp has been cancelled. The State Camp Training scheduled for April 18th at the Howard County Fairgrounds  and May 9th in Anne Arundel County will remain on the calendar at this time. In addition we are looking into online formats for camp training and will share information with camp directors once we have more details on the options.

Sporting Clays Fundraiser: The shooting clays fundraiser scheduled for March 28th will not be held. Further discussions with the facility and planning team will lead to the decision on postponing the event until later this year or cancelling it for 2020 altogether. We will share more information once a final decision has been made.