• By Erin McSpadden
• Posted Monday, June 13, 2016

4-H Record Book & Portfolio Competition Winners

In January of 2016, Forsyth County 4-H’ers submitted their 2015 entries to the North Carolina 4-H Project Record Book and Portfolio Competition, and over 30 students received awards for their Books and/or Portfolios! We offer our heartfelt congratulations to all of the 4-H’ers who competed in this worth-while and challenging competition. Your well-planned and well-executed projects, as well as the unique ways in which you documented your achievements, are truly inspirational!

4-H Project Record Books and Portfolios encourage students not only to set goals, but to develop a plan to achieve those goals. Moreover, they are tasked with monitoring their progress and sharing the results of their work. Students set their project outline and goals in January by clearly stating their expected accomplishment and planning target dates by which to complete portions of the project. They document their progress throughout the year using diverse methods, such as photographs, charts, spreadsheets, narratives, etc. At the end of the year, they are encouraged to share the results of their project via a project record book. 4-H’ers also have the opportunity to set project goals over multiple years and submit a portfolio of their record books for the course of these projects.

There is a wide range of subjects and categories about which students may submit project record books and portfolios. For example, a 4-H’er might set a goal of running for a student council office and submit a Project Record Book of their progress and the outcome of the election. Another student may choose to start a service club or undertake a community clean-up. The categories are broad and allow students to pursue interests in everything from animals’ science to civic education to environmental issues to science and/or technology.

Additionally, these Project Record Books and Portfolios contain a record of a student’s activities and are extremely helpful when they begin writing their resumes or fill out job applications and/or college applications. 4-Her’s can show concrete and well-documented evidence of their efforts in schools and communities. Moreover, the Project Record Book Forms encourage students to include personal stories and anecdotes from their time spent on their projects. Students can draw from these records when formulating responses to the essay questions on college and/or scholarship applications.

At the end of the year, 4-H’ers submit their Project Record Books and Portfolios to competitions at the county, district, and state levels. Winners are awarded 4-H Scholarship Dollars, which can be used to fund their participation in other 4-H activities.

List of competitors and awards received