1. Kentucky 4-H Achievement Program
From Honors to Achievement
Stephanie Blevins, Ph.D.
Kentucky 4-H Achievement Program
* Leadership * Citizenship * Participation * Communication/Marketing * Community service

2. Kentucky Current Program HONORS 3 levels Non-competitive
Achievement
HONORS
3 levels
Non-competitive
Segregated goals
3 Applications
Inconsistent outcomes
Lack of internal and external value

3. Kentucky Background Achievement One and a half year planning
Input sought
Surveys completed by Agents
State Teen Council
28 other state Honors type programs
Specialists
4-H Foundation
Outside parties
Increase 4-H participation
Allow 4-H’ers to chose 4-H career
Simplicity with 1 application
Cumulative efforts valued
Equitable evaluation
Increase internal and external value
Utilize Emerald 4-H’ers as ambassadors

4. Non-Competitive Levels
Kentucky
Non-Competitive Levels
Achievement
*Minimum: 7th Grade
* __50___ Points
*Receive Certificate at Teen Summit
Clover Level 2
*Minimum: 6th Grade
* __25__ Points
*Receive Certificate at Teen Summit
Clover Level 1
4-H Achievement Program

5. Non-competitive Levels (with options)
*Minimum: 10th Grade
* __200_ Points
*Can apply for Gold Achievement Award
Level 5
*Minimum: 9th Grade
* __150__ Points
*Can apply for Silver Achievement Award
Level 4
*Minimum: 8th Grade
* __100__ Points
*Receive Certificate at Teen Summit
*Can apply for Bronze Achievement Award
Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
Non-competitive Levels (with options)
4-H Achievement Program

6. Competitive Level EMERALD GOLD SILVER BRONZE
In addition to Achievement Application:
*Emerald Application *Resume
*Personal Profile *Personal PowerPoint
Level 5
*Top 10 Gold Winners - current year + past Gold
*10+ apps= 4 selected/awarded $1000 to National Conference and $1000 College Scholarship
Level 4
EMERALD
Level 3
Level 2
*Minimum: 10th Grade
* __200_ Points
*Can apply for Gold Achievement Award
Level 1
GOLD
4-H Achievement Program
*Minimum: 9th Grade
* __150__ Points
*Can apply for Silver Achievement Award
SILVER
*Minimum: 8th Grade
* __100__ Points
*Can apply for Bronze Achievement Award
BRONZE
Competitive Level

7. *Can apply for Bronze Achievement Award
8th grade + 4-H’er who has earned the Level 3
Each District can submit 15 4-H’ers to compete for the Teen Conference scholarship
105 applicants -105 selected
Award: $50 scholarship to Teen Conference
EMERALD
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
*Minimum: 8th Grade
* __100__ Points
*Can apply for Bronze Achievement Award
BRONZE Level

8. *Can apply for Silver Achievement Award
SILVER
9th grade - 4-H’er who has earned the Level 4 Award
Each District can submit 15 4-H’ers 105 applicants - 60 selected
Award: $125 scholarship to Teen Conference
EMERALD
GOLD
SILVER
*Minimum: 9th Grade
* __150__ Points
*Can apply for Silver Achievement Award
BRONZE
SILVER Level
Silver awards will be selected by a panel of judges based on the 4-H Silver Application, points, and Personal Profile

9. *Can apply for Gold Achievement Award
10th grade + 4-H’er who has earned the Level 5 Award
Each District can submit H’ers
70 applicants 30 selected
Award: $150 scholarship to Teen Conference / $750 scholarship to Congress
EMERALD
GOLD
*Minimum: 10th Grade
* __200_ Points
*Can apply for Gold Achievement Award
SILVER
*Note: If any of the 30 Gold Achievement winners do not wish or are not able to attend Congress, their spot will be offered at random to one of the Gold Alternate 4-H’ers who received the next ranking after the interviews.
*All 30 Gold Achievement Awards will be provided with a luncheon at Teen Conference. The parents of the 30 Gold Achievement winners will be invited to purchase a ticket to the luncheon.
BRONZE
GOLD Level
Silver awards will be selected by a panel of judges based on the 4-H Silver Application, Points, Personal Profile, and Interview

10. GOLD continued: INTERVIEWS
Kentucky
GOLD continued: INTERVIEWS
Achievement
Only Gold applicants will compete in an interview process. 4-H’ers will begin with a ranking of 1, 2, or 3 as assigned by pre-assessment of the application/personal profile (indicating strong to weak: 1-5). Based on these evaluations, the interview rooms would be assigned with an even mixture of applicants.
5 Rooms
14 4-H’ers /room
Judges will rank each 4-H’er (1, 2, 3, 4, ….)
(Top 10 is comprised of top 2 from each room. These 10 4-H’ers are eligible to submit for the Emerald Award)
Gold Interview Schedule for each Room
8:00 1
9:09 5
10:17 9
11:25 13
12:00
Lunch
8:18 2
9:26 6
10:34 10
11:42 14
8:35 3
9:43 7
10:51 11
12:30
Judges Review Top 10
8:52 4
10:00 8
11:08 12
70 applicants receive Gold Award
15 Judges
5 Room Hosts

11. EMERALD Level EMERALD GOLD SILVER BRONZE EMERALD
Selected from Top 10 Gold Award Winners from current year and any past Gold Achievement Award Winners.
10+ applicants- 4 selected
Award: $1000 scholarship to National Conference / $1000 College Scholarship
Emerald will stand as a separate level.
4-H’ers who were top 10 from the current year and previous Gold winners are eligible to apply for Emerald. The top four are selected from this group.
Emerald applications, resume, County Honors Application, and power-point are due May 15 (prescreened by committee and top 15 selected to participate in interview and presentation at Teen Conference to compete for Emerald Award).
To apply for Emerald Award: Complete Co. Honors Application, Emerald Application, Updated Resume, and Personal Power Point at Teen Conference.
Last day of Teen Conference, the top 4 Emerald winners are announced with Power Point shown to Teen Conference attendees.
EMERALD
*Minimum: 8th grade + earned Level 3
*Each District submits 15 apps
*105 apps= 105 selected/awarded $50 to Teen Conf.
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
EMERALD Level

12. Kentucky EMERALD continued: Emerald will stand as a separate level.
Achievement
Emerald will stand as a separate level.
4-H’ers who were top 10 from the current year and previous Gold winners are eligible to apply for Emerald. The top four are selected from this group.
Emerald applications, resume, County Honors Application, and power- point are due May 15 (prescreened by committee and top 15 selected to participate in interview and presentation at Teen Conference to compete for Emerald Award).
To apply for Emerald Award: Complete Co. Honors Application, Emerald Application, Updated Resume, and Personal Power Point at Teen Conference.
Last day of Teen Conference, the top 4 Emerald winners are announced with Power Point shown to Teen Conference attendees.
June 2012 : Emerald Interviews, first Emerald Awards presented – Silver & Gold recognized as Honors Winners as in the past – Top 30 Gold & Emerald receive financial rewards to be determined.

13. Kentucky
Guidelines:
Achievement
*4-H’ers can continue to submit and reapply for Emerald until received or aged out of the 4-H program.
A 4-H’er may only attend Congress and National Conference one time.
Current 4-H’ers participating in the “Honors Program” or those currently working on their Honors application will be grandfathered in to the “Achievement Program” and will retain their title awarded.
Counties will have the option to recognize “Honorable Mention, Participation, etc.” to 4-H’ers who do not received the Achievement Awards at the state.
Applications due to the State Office : December 15th
Gold Interviews, all Gold winners invited to participate – Top 30 selected for Congress – Top 10 Gold selected to apply for Emerald

14. Timeline: 4-H Year : 9/1/11 to 8/31/12
DATE
4-H Year : /1/11 to 8/31/12
Summary
First year of new Achievement Program complete with new application & full funding for Bronze, Silver, and Gold
Aug. 31, 2011
Program year ends
Sept. 1, 2011
 4-H Program year begins – based on new app
October, 2011
New Achievement Application available.
Dec 15, 2011
Honors Summary Forms due in State Office
March 2012
Gold Interviews, all Gold winners invited to participate – Top 30 selected for Congress – Top 10 Gold selected to apply for Emerald
May 15, 2012
Emerald Applications Due
June 2012
Emerald Interviews, first Emerald Awards presented – Silver & Gold recognized as Honors Winners as in the past – Top 30 Gold & Emerald receive financial rewards to be determined.
August 2012
 4-H Program year ends
Nov. 2012
30 Top Gold Winners attend National 4-H Congress
Dec 15, 2012
 Achievement Applications due in State Office
March 2013
 Deadline for counties to submit their Bronze and Silver achievement winners.
Gold Interviews – top 10 gold selected for Emerald
April 2013
4 Emerald Winners attend Nat. 4-H Conference
May 15, 2013
Deadline for Emerald applications
June 2013
Emerald Interviews & first achievement awards presented based on new application w/full financial support
Nov. 2013
30 Gold to National 4-H Congress
April 2014
4 – Emerald to National 4-H Conference

15. Rubric
County Multi-County/District State National Clover Level 3: 100 points Can apply for Bronze: Plus Personal Profile Minimum points required to achieve Level 3: 100 points Clover Level 4: 150 points Can apply for Silver: Plus Personal Profile Minimum points required to achieve Level 4: 150 points Clover Level 5: 200 points Can apply for Gold: Plus Personal Profile and Resume Minimum points required to achieve Level 5: 200 points Emerald Award: Top 10 Gold of current year – or – previous year Gold winner Gold requirements and Power Point Presentation
Clover Level 1: 25 points
Minimum points required to achieve Level 1: 25 points
Clover Level 2: 50 points
Minimum points required to achieve Level 2: 50 points