Clover Clips

A newsletter for 4-H families

Announcements

County Club Day: Save the Date!

County Club Day will be held on Saturday, February 28th at Pioneer Ridge Middle School

(Gardner, KS). More details to come - registration will open January 5th. The registration link will be posted on the website and emailed to families as well. Now is a great time to start planning and preparing your speeches and performances. What event(s) would you like to register for? Refer to this handout for a list and description of the various events.

Take note and mark your calendars: Regional Club Day will be Saturday, March 21st.

2026 Enrollment

4-H Online opened October 1 for new 4-H members to enroll and current 4-H members to re-enroll for the 2025-2026 4-H year. We asked that all returning 4-H members be enrolled by November 1, 2025. If you have not enrolled, please do ASAP. If you are not re-enrolled, your family will miss out on important correspondences from the county Extension office and State 4-H office as only the contact information from 2026 enrollments in 4-H Online will now be used. Enrollment guides for families and volunteers are posted on our website.

County Events & Updates

Horticulture Classes

Do you have a green thumb? Do you wish that you did? Do you want to start a vegetable garden? Well, if you are looking for some classes that can help you with plants of all types, then consider signing up for the 4-H Horticulture classes.

Starting on Tuesday, January 20th at 6:00 PM, these classes will be led by Horticulture agents Markis Hill and Anthony Reardon. The goal of these classes is to establish a baseline of horticultural knowledge for 4-H students who may be interested in submitting a project at the county fair, competing in the horticulture judging competition, or simply want to be better stewards of the land.

Students will learn:

Basic plant ID characteristics
How to establish and care for a vegetable garden
Basic maintenance of a landscape
Career paths available in the horticulture industry
How to care for houseplants
Occasional Tours (To be determined)

Classes are free to join and will be held monthly, on the third Tuesday, throughout the year (except July). Members can catch details and upcoming topics in Clover Clips. All 4-H youth, including Cloverbuds, are welcome to join. Free seed and plant giveaways are available for participants.

If you are interested, please RSVP via the sign-up.

County Council Representatives

Each club needs to have two youth and two adult mentors serve as their club’s representatives at 4-H County Council. The meetings occur on the first Monday of odd months. The next meeting will be January 5th at 7:00 PM at the Extension Office (Room 1070/1075).

Actively participating in two Council Committees is one of the requirements for Council Reps to receive their pin. Descriptions of each of the Council committees are posted on the 4-H Council Page on the Johnson County 4-H website. Please choose at least one Event Planning committee and at least one Review Committee to participate in this year. A link for the committee sign-ups is posted on the 4-H Council Page. If you have questions, please contact the Johnson County 4-H office.

County Committees

Would you like to help plan county events like Achievement Celebration, Food Fare or Club Days? Would you like to help review scholarships or voice your opinion on county award procedures? There are several county committees to get YOU involved at the county level. Come be a part of one and meet other 4-H'ers in the county. Get your voice heard and make decisions! Anyone can participate in county committees - you do not have to be a council representative to participate. Look over this list of committees and their responsibilities and find one that you want to be a member of and sign up today!

Project News

Shooting Sports & Hunting Skills

Article submitted by Arn Eccles

Shooting Sports

Some of the JOCO Hunting Skills members got together earlier this year to go on a dove hunt. Although the (very early) morning began cloudy and somewhat drizzly, they had a blast! They spent the year getting ready for state match by learning wildlife identification, compass & orienteering, hunter knowledge, and becoming skilled in live fire with archery, shotgun, and smallbore rifle. This was the second-year hunt for most of these friends, though the first year someone forgot to tell the doves to show up. This was a hunt put together by friends, and outside of 4-H activities.

Earlier in the summer, Emily K. and Jack W. attended 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships held in Nebraska as 2 of a 4-person team of Hunting Skills for Team Kansas. This group was coached by Arn Eccles. Emily and Jack helped propel their team to 5th place over the 3 plus days of competitions.

Hunting Skills

We don’t promise there will always be hunting involved for those that want to, but we do like to have a good time as a Hunting Skills group. If you’d like to join us, please reach out to Beth Alloway or Arn Eccles. We hope to get a class together for beginners in the project very early 2026. No hunting experience needed to join.

Below are photos of the following members of the hunting skills group: Henry O., Gus O., Rory O., Josiah T., Evan F., and Emily K.

Rabbit Workshops

Miami County will be hosting a 6-Part Rabbit Workshop Series at the Paola Extension Office. The first workshop will be on January 3rd. These workshops will be educational and help you elevate your rabbit project experience. If you are interested, please RSVP no later than December 28th. Contact Ashley Barnes with any questions or for more information.

County Knitting Project Meetings

Are you wanting to learn to knit? Do you have some knitting experience and want to craft alongside other knitters? Monthly county knitting project meetings will be held on Friday evenings this year. Each meeting will be from 7:00 - 8:30 PM at the Open Class building on the Johnson County Fairgrounds.

Upcoming dates:

December 19th
January 16th
February 20th

Please RSVP to Sarah Kallansrud if you would like to attend so she can plan accordingly! Feel free to email her as well for a list of supplies that you can bring to the meeting.

4-H Calendar Events

Check out all the available 4-H Projects and Events coming up in the next few weeks.

Monday, December 15th 6:00 PM

Johnson County Entomology Project Meeting

You are invited to join us on the third Monday of each month at the Johnson County Entomology Project Meetings. At these meetings we dive into the art of collecting and learning about insects! Whether you're a seasoned collector or just starting out, this hands-on meeting is perfect for anyone looking to improve their skills and take their insect collection to new heights. All skill levels welcome!

At the December meeting we will learn about the anatomy of insects. If you are looking for a new project where you can learn more about the world and nature, entomology is an excellent choice and this meeting will give you the right place to start learning about the insects and how they live!

Registration: None required

Contact: Patrick Delancy

Location: Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church (Room #115) 13145 Blackbob Road, Olathe, KS 66062

Friday, December 19th 7:00 PM

Johnson County Knitting Project Meeting

Learn to knit or meet with others who love to knit.

Registration: RSVP required via email to Sarah Kallansrud

Contact: Sarah Kallansrud

Location: Johnson County Fairgrounds, Open Class Building

December 25th - January 2nd

Johnson County Extension Office Closed

Offices will reopen January 5th

Monday, January 5th 7:00 PM

County Council Meeting

Council will meet every other month on the odd-numbered months.

Contact: Cyla or Lexi

Location: Johnson County Extension Office (Room 1070/1075)

View 4-H Calendar

Upcoming Deadlines

January 2 - 4-H Horse Judging Contest Registration DUE

January 5 - Kansas 4-H State Scholarships DUE

January 9 - Cool Science Artwork Competition Submissions DUE

January 9 - SevenDays Organization Scholarship Applications DUE

February 13 - K-State Junior Beef Producer Day Registration Due

State/National Events & Updates

4-H Horse Judging Contest

The State 4-H Horse Judging Contest will be held Friday, January 23rd in Topeka at the Stormont Vail Events Center in conjunction with EquiFest of Kansas. Kansas 4-H is partnering with the Kansas Quarter Horse Youth Association to bring a quality educational event for youth interested in horses.

There will be two contests -

State 4-H Contest (open to Kansas 4-H members ages 9-18) and an
Open youth contest (open to all ages of youth).

The first place senior 4-H team will have the opportunity to represent Kansas at the Western National 4-H Roundup next January in Denver.

Complete contest information is available on the website.

Note the following:

Registration is through the EquiFest registration.
Early bird registrations due January 2nd; late registrations due January 9th
It is requested that a coach or Extension Agent register the team from their Extension unit, rather than multiple people registering. If the coach registering is not an agent, please communicate with your local Extension agent that you will be entering a team.

Questions? Email Kelsey.

Save the Date: K-State Junior Producer Day

Junior Producer Days are hosted to provide educational material and hands-on experiences for youth, parents, leaders, extension agents, and ag teachers. Various speakers share information on topics such as selection, nutrition, showmanship, fitting, reproduction, feeding, and disease control. Talks, demonstrations, hands-on activities, and door prizes are present at all events. Beef and Sheep days are hosted in even years, and Swine and Meat Goat days are hosted in odd years.

Both events will be held at the Bilbrey Family Events Center in Manhattan, KS.

K-State Junior Beef Producer Day

Date: Saturday, March 7, 2026

Registration Deadline: February 13

Cost: $20/person by February 13 ($30/person after February 13)

*Late registrants will not receive a T-shirt

**All attendees must register, including youth & adults

K-State Junior Sheep Producer Day

Date: Saturday, April 11, 2026

Registration Deadline: March 20

Cost: $20/person by March 20 ($30/person after March 20)

*Late registrants will not receive a T-shirt

**All attendees must register, including youth & adults

2026-2027 Kansas 4-H Scholarships

The Kansas 4-H Scholarship program is open to graduating high school seniors, current college students, and graduate students who have been part of the 4-H experience. Each scholarship has its own criteria, and you may qualify for several. You will only need to fill out one application to be considered for all available scholarships. The scholarship process combines the State 4-H Scholarships and the Vanier Family Scholarship Program (VFSP) applications together.

The scholarship application is on the Kansas 4-H website, along with many details on the scholarship offerings and application requirements. The deadline for the Kansas 4-H Scholarships is Monday, January 5, 2026.

Partner Events

SevenDays Organization Opportunities

Based in Kansas City, the SevenDays organization provides opportunities encouraging all people to increase kindness through knowledge, mindset and behavior. Their mission is to overcome hate by promoting kindness and understanding through education and dialogue, with a vision to make a ripple to change the world by connecting communities. SevenDays value youth development, interfaith dialogue and cooperation, community connections, health & wellness and more! Check out their website to see all their upcoming opportunities - scholarship for seniors, an art contest, Youth Leadership Team and more! Take note: the scholarship deadline is January 9th.

Cool Science Artwork Competition

Cool Science is a free and public art competition held each year for all K-12 artists.

Cool Science is a collaboration between the UMass Lowell, UMass Boston, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, University of Kansas, and Kansas City Art Institute.

In 2019, Cool Science received a National Science Foundation grant that helped it expand the project beyond Massachusetts to Kansas, Missouri, and Southern New Hampshire. However, students from any location around the world are welcome to participate.

This year, they are asking young artists to answer one of the following challenge questions with a visual work of art:

What can we learn from nature about adapting to a changing climate?
How are Massachusetts and its cities and towns preparing for climate change?
How can we lower temperatures in urban heat islands?

Cool Science will select the best entries for display on public buses in the Spring 2026. The honorees will be recognized at their art exhibit celebrations next year. Submission guidelines are available, and all artwork submissions are due January 9th, 2026.

Reporter's Corner

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Contact Us!

Clover Clips Submission

The deadline for submissions for Clover Clips will be on the 15th of each month. If you have a submission that you would like to have considered for an edition of Clover Clips please send it to Erin at Erin.Yeung@jocogov.org