June 30 was the last day of the 2025-2026 program year for 4-H. There are still a few events happening in July as a culmination of last year’s program, like camp in El Dorado and fair in Tuolumne and Amador. As many of our youth are wrapping up and reminiscing on the memories they’ve made and lessons they’ve learned, staff and volunteers are already planning for the 2026-2027 program year.
This is the 3rd year that staff in the Central Sierra are hosting Kick Off events for volunteers in their county. The goal of these events are threefold: 1) to provide continuing education for our volunteers so they are prepared to work with youth in their communities, 2) to help volunteers navigate the administrative load of being a volunteer by going over project plans and doing training as a group versus individually online, and 3) providing lunch as a symbol of appreciation to the amazing time and effort our volunteers put in by leading projects.
If you’re a project or club leader in Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, or Tuolumne counties we cordially invite you to one of these events. There will be one hosted in each county, but if you can’t make that date, you’re more than welcome to come to another county. In addition, we’re hosting four sessions online. Two identical online sessions will be educational content, and two other identical sessions will be supporting volunteers in developing their project plans. If volunteers already have solid project plans in place and don’t need support from staff to get that done, they can skip that portion.
The National 4-H Beyond Ready framework focuses on four components of programming that help prepare youth for work at life. They are belonging, developmental relationships, engagement, and sparks. Last year in our kick-off, we talked a lot about belonging. This year, we will be focusing on sparks. Sparks are a talent, skill, or passion that’s sparks joy, curiosity, and a sense of purpose in a young person. They are more than just a hobby. Our hope is to give leaders tools so when they work with young people in their projects, they can help them develop their spark. For example, in a goat project, the youth might have a spark that has nothing to with goats themselves. It could be public speaking or biosecurity or teaching others. We want to make sure youth in all projects are exposed to potential sparks and that leaders help turn those sparks into flames.
Dates for project leader kick offs are below. Please click the link to register. We’re so excited to see you there!
Online
- Thursday, July 9, 2026 (Part 1: Sparks)| 6:00-8:00 p.m. Online via ZOOM
- Tuesday, July 21, 2026 (Part 2: Annual Project Plan) | 6:00-7:30 p.m. Online via ZOOM
- Tuesday, July 28, 2026 (Part 1: Sparks) | 6:00-8:00 p.m. Online via ZOOM
- Wednesday, July 29, 2026 (Part 2: Annual Project Plan) | 6:00-7:30 p.m. Online via ZOOM
In-Person
- Saturday, July 11, 2026 | 10:00-2:00 p.m. | Amador 4-H Office (12200-B Airport Rd., Jackson, CA 95642)
- Saturday, July 18, 2026 | 10:00-3:00 p.m. | San Andreas Masonic Hall (5 W St Charles St, San Andreas, CA 95249)
- Saturday, July 18, 2026 | 12:30-4:00 p.m. | Grass Valley Veterans Building Dining Hall (255 South Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA 95945)
- Sunday, July 19, 2026 | 11:30-3:30 p.m. | Placer 4-H Office (2855 2nd St, Auburn, CA 95603)
- Sunday, July 26, 2026 | 12:00-5:00 p.m. | Tuolumne 4-H Office (52 North Washington St., Sonora, CA 95370)
- Saturday, August 1, 2026 | 10:00-4:00 p.m. | Folsom Lake College - El Dorado Center (6699 Campus Dr, Placerville, CA 95667)
Questions? Contact Vera M. Bullard at ucfourhregionsix@ucanr.edu