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New Look, Same Great Learning:

Youth Educational Programs this Summer and Beyond

Ready to plan your summer?!

We're updating how we share our youth educational programs! 

While we are retiring the "Summer Blast" name, we aren't slowing down. We'll be posting educational opportunities individually as they open, rather than all at once. 4-H youth will still be offered the same, high-quality programs as always. Find information on Facebook, in the 4-H newsletter and at 4Honline.com where you can enroll in 4-H AND register for most of our educational programs for youth. Make sure to stay connected and enroll or renew your child's 4-H enrollment at 4Honline.com. 

Once your 4-H Online enrollment has been approved, you can click on "Events" in the left side menu to view and register for 4-H programs available to your child's age group!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - ALL HANDS ON DECK!

Stanly County 4-H will be the 2026 host for the annual South Central District Activity Day event, and we need all hands on deck!  District Activity Day is the culmination of county 4-H presentation competitions, when high-performing 4-H'ers and their families from across the 19-county district gather for a district-wide presentation competition.  The event will take place on Wednesday, June 17th from 9:30am-3:30pm at South Stanly Middle School.  Volunteers will serve as presentation room hosts and help with other duties of the day like parking, greeting and helping direct 
4-H families to the right place.  Would you like to help bring this rewarding experience to life?  Please contact our office as soon as possible to add your name to the list of District Activity Day volunteers!
704-983-3987 or smith-thompson@ncsu.edu

"On behalf of the North Carolina 4-H Volunteer Leaders’ Association, I want to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU for making our 2026 conference such a resonant success. Whether you joined us as a participant, presenter, or guest, your energy helped prove that The future is BRIGHT in NC 4-H!"  
-Dr. Daniel Collins, Extension Specialist, 4-H Youth & Adult Engagement

Pictured below are 4-H Volunteers/Club Leaders Kathryn Nelson and Miranda Stroupe at the 4-H Volunteer Leaders Association Conference

New Meeting Location for the Nature Navigators 4-H Club

Exciting news! The Nature Navigators 4-H Club has a brand new meeting location and an earlier meeting time.  Starting Thursday, April 16, the club will meet at 6:00PM every 3rd Thursday at City Lake Park (815 Concord Rd, Albemarle).  In the event of bad weather, an alternate meeting location will be announced (typically the Niven Community Center at 1816-A E Main St, Albemarle).  Nature Navigators is a club that focuses on all things nature and wildlife.  The club is excited to meet in the great outdoors, and thank City of Albemarle Parks and Recreation for being valued partners in youth development and community service.  To stay connected with Nature Navigators 4-H Club, follow them on Facebook.

Highlights from the 2026 South Central District Teen Retreat

Each spring, teen 4-H'ers from across the 19-county South Central District gather to socialize, attend workshops and elect district officers to be installed at 4-H Congress in July. District officers plan and organize district-wide events for the 4-H year.  This year's event was held on Saturday, March 28th, at Union County Agricultural Center.
Pictured below are Rocky River Riders 4-H club members, Ellie LaMotte and Edyn Stroupe who served as electoral delegates for Stanly County and were the first teens to represent our county at Teen Retreat in at least 5 years!  Pictured below on the left, Ellie and Edyn are casting the Stanly County district officer election ballot.  On the right, they are posing with the NC 4-H mascot bear, Clover, for a pic being taken by NC 4-H State officers, Kaitlyn Thompson and Meredith Potter.  Ellie and Edyn had such a great time at Teen Retreat, they are already making plans to attend, campaign for district officer roles - and bring friends - to the 2027 South Central District Teen Retreat!

Your '25-'26 South Central District Officers were elected at the 2025 South Central District Teen Retreat and will continue serving until NC 4-H Congress in July. Pictured below, from left to right:

🍀 Addison Tunnard, Secretary/Treasurer Lee Co.

🍀 Kylee Green, President, Union Co.

🍀 Peyton Letteer, Vice President, Cabarrus Co.

🍀 David Croyle, Reporter, Rowan Co.

🍀 Etera Pendleton, Member Engagement Officer, Union Co.

Congratulations to your '26-'27 South Central District Officers elected at Teen Retreat. They will assume their new roles at 4-H Congress this July.  Pictured below, from left to right:

🍀 Savanna Abrams, Member Engagement Officer, Hoke Co

🍀 Abigail Wood, Reporter, Rowan Co.

🍀 Ty Kovar, Secretary/Treasurer, Cabarrus Co.

🍀 Sarayu Kondeti, Vice President, Mecklenburg Co.

🍀 Kavya Saxena, President, Cabarrus Co.

Highlights from the March Commissioners Meeting

After the presentation of our annual Extension Report to the People by County Extension Dir., Molly Alexi, Stanly General Intrest 4-H Club member and Reporter, Kestyn Furlow, and Rocky River Riders 4-H Club Leader, Miranda Stroupe, shared powerful stories about their 4-H journeys. Kestyn and Miranda illustrated the work volunteers and Extension staff have done to revitalize the Stanly 4-H program and the real-life impacts 4-H is making in our county. We could not be more proud of our team of 4-H volunteers or our 4-H youth.

Stanly General Interest 4-H Club

🐦 Stanly County General Interest 4-H club members are pictured above, showing off the beautiful, very creative birdhouses they made during their April meeting! Special thanks to volunteers Vickie, Mark and Richard for donating the time, equipment and skills it took to make club members' idea to build birdhouses come to life.   The General Interest 4-H Club meets on 1st Wednesdays at 5PM at the Stanly Agri Civic Center.  To stay connected, follow this club on Facebook.

Join a 4-H Club...or Two!

All Stanly 4-H Clubs are open to any Stanly youth between the ages of 5-18 as of January 1st - you can even participate in multiple clubs! Contact our office or click below to learn more about all Stanly 4-H Clubs.

Youth STEAM Summit
Raises Awareness of Career Opportunities and Tools for Success 

The conference is held to better acquaint young people grades 9^th – 12^th with science, technology, engineering, agriculture and math, including career opportunities in these fields. The event is free, however, pre-registration is required.

The STEM-focused conference also provides students with the opportunity to experience mobile labs such as the University of Mount Olive Soil Lab and Be Proud career simulation lab, and a variety of other relevant workshops.  Youth can network with professionals that include forestry companies, the Center for Energy Education and state and federal farming and natural resource agencies and colleges and universities. Keynote speaker Dr. Kenston J. Griffin, the chief executive officer of Dream Builders Communication, Inc. located in Huntersville NC.  He will return to motive youth to learn the best practices for “leading rather than following.”  Breakfast, lunch and snacks are provided along with door prizes and access to the arcades and ropes course at the end of the program.

The conference is hosted by Roanoke Cooperative’s nonprofit Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project (SFLRP). Sponsorships: CoBank, Enviva, Southern Bank, NC Electric Cooperatives, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Roanoke Cooperative and Sustainable Forest Land Retention Program. Click here for details.

Sow, Grow, Go! Summer Ag Adventures

Spend your summer soaking up sun and the sand... in a sweetpotato field! All youth are welcome to be a part of summer agricultural adventures through the Horticultural Science Summer Institute, Resource Conservation Workshop and the NC 4-H Horticulture Contest. Read on below:

NC 4-H Horticulture Contest

The Horticulture Judging and Identification Contest is a program that teaches youth to recognize and identify some of the most important horticultural crops, to learn criteria influencing quality and to be able to answer questions and solve problems relating to the science of horticulture.

The 2026 Horticulture Contest will be on Saturday, July 18th on the campus of NC State University, in the Marye Anne Fox Building from 10am - 3pm

(lunch included). Registration is open!

Getting Started:

1. Attend an informational webinar (anyone can attend: agents, youth, volunteers) on April 22nd at 9a to learn more. Register for the zoom here.

2. Round up some youth, ages 5-18 can participate!

3. Through special meetings, clubs, summer programs, classes, etc, work on your identification of 180 plants and, judging plants for quality and understanding of horticulture principles.

Reach out to Liz Driscoll or Grace Atkins with any questions.

Like, Comment & Share, to Spread the Word about Stanly Co. 4-H!

💬 👍  😁  💛 💯 🍀 👈

Spreading the word throughout the community is one of 4-H’s greatest challenges here in Stanly County.  4-H’ers, their families and Extension volunteers can help!  Post flyers around the community about fundraisers, club meetings, etc - ask our office for hard copies!  Share our posts on social media!  Like our posts on social media!  Always leave a comment when you see one of our posts.  Share a link to our newsletter page so other families can keep up with all the opportunities available to their young people!  TALK about your experience in 4-H and what you enjoy about it.  Bring friends to your club meetings!

🍀 Help the Right Person Find Us! 🍀

Do you know someone with time to invest in expanding our reach across the county? We're searching for a Community Outreach Volunteer—a key person to help us share the life-changing, no-cost opportunities Stanly 4-H offers local youth.

The perfect volunteer has time to invest, is passionate about connecting with people and excited to help more families learn about 4-H.  We will provide all the necessary training.We are certain the right person is out there and need your help putting us in contact with them.  Call or email Mandy Smith-Thompson at 704.983.3987 or smith-thompson@ncsu.edu.

Read past 4-H Newsletters on our website.

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N.C. Cooperative Extension - Stanly County Center
26032 Newt Rd
Albemarle, NC 28001
United States

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