Ignite by 4-H - the 2024 National 4-H Youth Summit to be held in the Washington, DC area, March 13-17, 2024.
This is a competitive application with a limited number of spots. Please be thoughtful in your answers as they are highly considered for youth applying for the team.
High school-aged youth are immersed in an agenda focused on agri-science, healthy living, or STEM. Sessions will be offered within these respective tracks to demonstrate why and how these topics are important and how young people can become change makers. Find general conference information at:
At the 2024 National 4-H Youth Summit youth and adult teams will:
Deepen their understanding of key issues in agri-science, healthy living or STEM through learning sessions.
Increase understanding of career pathways in agri-science, healthy living or STEM through interactions with industry leaders.
Be inspired and interact with peers across state lines who share interest in influencing change in agri-science, healthy living or STEM.
As a cornerstone of this experience, delegates will be challenged to collaborate, create, and implement a state project that addresses a need or issue in agriscience, healthy living or STEM as part of the UMaine 4-H Ag Explorers project. This will include meeting online with the team and then presenting your project at the Maine 4-H Days event in July and/or the Ag Trade Show in January. This is an ongoing effort to bring diverse programs around the food system to more Maine youth and showcase how science, health, and agriculture are very connected.
What is Maine 4-H Summit Team?
The Maine 4-H Summit Team is group of Maine 4-H'ers in high school that attend any of the three designated tracks (youth select which track they are interested in).
The large majority of the funding is provided by the Maine 4-H Foundation. Participants are expected to pay $300 towards the cost of the trip (due before we leave). You are encouraged to check with your local 4-H Leaders Associations and 4-H office to see if there are opportunities for them to support your trip cost. The teams will include up to 15 4-H youth ages 14-18, and several trained 4-H staff members. The trip will include accommodations at either the Westin Washington D.C. Downtown Hotel or the Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C (the team will all be together), meals, educational programming and tours including a guided night tour of the monuments and memorials in Washington, DC. All-you-can-eat meals are included beginning with dinner on Wednesday evening and ending with a box lunch on Sunday.
If selected, team members will be required to:
1) Attend a virtual orientation 2-4 weeks before the Summit.
2) Attend Ignite by 4-H. The 2024 National 4-H Youth Summit will be held in the greater Washington, DC area from March 13-17, 2024.
3) Complete a team action plan- which will be centered around launching the "Ag Explorers" Program at different 4-H events locally and state wide. Youth will be able to chose roles they wish related to their area of interest (STEM, Ag, Healthy Living) and help deliver the educational program to young 4-H or community youth.
4) Blog/report on social media daily (but briefly) for UMaine Extension and 4-H while at the Ignite event using the correct hashtags if possible.
5) Upon return from the Summit team members will work toward the action plan as a team throughout Spring 2024. This will likely include 3-6 virtual meetings and/or presentations. The opportunity to present at a Summit the following year is also an option.
6) Provide a report for UMaine 4-H Extension staff after attending the Summits about your experience.
7) Report activities and accomplishments in your Maine 4-H Record Book and Portfolio.
To qualify for the youth team you must:
1) Be in grades 9-12 (ages 14-18) in the 2023-24 school year
2) Be an enrolled 4-H member in Maine by December 31, 2023.
How to apply:
1) Complete and submit this application.
2) Have a 4-H leader or adult who knows you well (who is not a relative, ex: not a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin or sibling) submit a brief letter of recommendation to Tara Marble at: tara.marble@maine.edu Applications and a short letter of recommendation are submitted online and are due by December 23 , 2023. If you need a paper copy of the application please call, Tara Marble at 207-778-4650.
Please note: if you have attended Ignite or a previous Summit twice, we recommend that youth try to apply for other scholarships or try to submit a plan to present for a future Summit.
For more information on the Summits please visit:
https://events.4-h.org/ignite/home