4-H is the largest youth organization in the United States!

At the federal level, 4-H is organized as a part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Our parent department in the USDA is the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

4-H in Louisiana is administered by the LSU AgCenter and its Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service. The LSU AgCenter is part of the Louisiana State University (LSU) System.

4-H’ers learn and develop skills that are crucial for success in life such as self-confidence, compassion, how to make valuable connections with adults, and skills and opportunities to further their communities.

Youth gain life skills such as:

4-H offers opportunities for youth to grow and learn more about themselves and the world around them hosting camps and conferences within the parish, as well as, across the state and country. Youth can receive awards, honors, and scholarships in recognition for the hard work and excelling. Lastly, 4-H offers endless opportunities to travel and compete. Members can participate in a Louisiana 4-H-sponsored trip like the summer educational trip, 4-H Ignite, 4-H Congress, and Citizenship Washington Focus.

Acadia Parish 4-H uses the 4HOnline Enrollment System. 4H Online is an online member enrollment and program management software used by 4-H programs across the country. 4HOnline is fully encrypted; member and volunteer information is safe, backed up continuously, and fully secured.

4HOnline is a fully integrated management system that brings together all levels of the 4-H experience. Whether it's a member logging in to manage his/her record, a volunteer leader completing their training or screening requirements, or a parent viewing the 4-H program's online event calendar, 4HOnline will bring the Louisiana 4-H community together and keep everyone involved.

This system allows families to manage all of their contacts in one place. A step-by-step guide on how to enroll can be located at the bottom of the page.

Here are a few things to note while joining as a 4-H member.

• The system will prompt both youth and adults to join as a member. It will automatically populate that you are a youth or adult by your age. (If you are 18 or 19 you will be given the option to choose a youth or adult membership. Please only choose adult if you have graduated high school.)
• When selecting a club please choose your school (at large if your school doesn't have one) as the primary club. You can also add Livestock as a secondary club if you plan on showing livestock or horses this year. All you have to do is click select units and you can add more than one.
• When selecting a project please note that this will only be used as your opportunity to show us your sparks and what interests you. This does not mean that you will be limited to this content for your project work throughout the year.
• Youth Project leaders are officers or counselors for school and community clubs. Please select that if it applies to you.
• Once you click submit you have successfully joined 4-H! You will receive an email confirming this. It will then move on to the next step for review. If there is anything that needs to change, agents will send it back with a note for the update and resubmit.

Enroll in 4-H Online Here

The Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service (“Extension”) will provide equal opportunities in programs and activities, education, and employment to all persons regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity and will strive to achieve full, and equal employment opportunity throughout the LSU AgCenter. For questions, contact the Acadia Parish Extension Office at 337-788-8821.

Acadia Parish offers a variety of ways for youth to be involved in the program. Membership is not active until an applicant’s registration is entered into 4HOnline and approved by the Parish Office. A youth participates in 4-H by belonging to a 4-H club or parish program or any recognized unit of membership in the parish where he/she resides or attends school. *Membership cannot be held simultaneously in more than one parish, region, or state, but membership may change with residence.

Involvement in other Parish 4-H Programs

If a 4-H member has an interest in a project that is not offered in their parish of membership, they may participate in an adjacent parish, if both parishes are aware and in agreement. 4-H members must represent the parish in which they reside and are enrolled and approved for all 4-H competitions, events, and activities by their home parish.

All youth must abide by the Louisiana Department of Education’s Extra-Curricular Education Guidelines. In the event an individual loses his/her eligibility to participate in an extracurricular event/activity due to a violation of the Guidelines, the individual will not be eligible to participate in extracurricular events/activities as a 4-H member.

4-H Clubs

Clubs are organized groups of 4-H members led by trained adults that have planned programming and usually meet throughout the year. Clubs are offered in school and community settings

• We currently have 30 clubs at local schools throughout the parish
• Youth who do not have an organized club at their school are offered the opportunity to join as a member at large.
• Acadia Parish has several different community clubs as well.
  • Junior Leadership (7th-12th graders)
  • Shooting Sports
  • Sewing Club
  • Art club (12 years of age and up)
  • Livestock
  • Horse Clinics
  • Beekeeping

4-H Camping

Camping provides creative, recreational, and educational opportunities in outdoor living situations away from home. Camping exposes youth to new interests, requires heightened responsibility, develops social interactions, encourages citizenship, and provides fun activities which enrich ongoing 4-H club programs. Open to 4-H Club members and non-4-H club members

School Enrichment

School enrichment is short-term programming that occurs during school hours and utilizes non-formal education in support of the school curriculum.

Special Interest

Special Interest Programs are short-term experiences that enhance the participant’s knowledge and skill in a single subject matter area and encourage expanded involvement in 4-H.

School Clubs

Each club assesses its own membership fees. All 4-H club members will be assessed a state and parish assessment fee. School clubs may charge an additional fee to cover club costs at the local level. For more information on what the fees are contact your school club leader. If you do not have a school club please join as a member at large and you will only be assessed a $10 fee.

The Louisiana 4-H Program relies on the assistance and leadership from both adult and youth volunteers to deliver the 4-H program. Volunteers play a key role in the success of the program and youth involved. The success is through a variety of types of volunteers and the highest expectation of those volunteers in serving the program.

Types of Volunteers

• Direct: A Direct Volunteer is an adult who is officially enrolled as an adult volunteer; provides unpaid support for the 4-H Program through face-to-face contact; and provides learning experiences for youth. Such a volunteer may include a club leader, project leader, camp counselor, teacher, and/or coach.
• Indirect: An Indirect Volunteer is either a youth or adult who provides unpaid support for the program which does not include face-to-face contact with youth; and does not provide a learning experience for youth. Such volunteers may include a board member, committee member, and/or livestock show boards and/or donors.

Adult Volunteers

• Club Leader: This is a leader who provides overall 4-H club leadership. Club Leaders can be individuals or a group of people who have specific roles that fulfill the Club Leader’s responsibilities. Club leader responsibilities are to coordinate members, parents, and the involvement of other volunteers. Club Leaders are required to complete a background screening and homeschool club leaders are also required to complete two risk management trainings.
• Project/Activity Leader:This is a leader who directs a specific project or parish activity, such as a field trip, fundraising, recreational event, shooting sports activity, camp, service-learning project, or club social. Project/Activity leaders are required to complete a background screening and two risk management trainings.
• Advisory/Foundation Board: This is a leader who represents, advocates for, and identifies the needs and issues of 4-H clientele in an official advisory role. This role may include raising funds, managing budgets, providing input on program processes and changes, and conducting supplementary parish programs.
• Judge/Episodic: This is a leader who serves in such roles as a judge or an interviewer for a 4-H activity or competition. This would also include volunteers who only assist for a certain event or a short amount of time and do not have any one-on-one interaction with youth such as a guest speaker, AgMagic volunteer, or other.
• Overnight Chaperone: Any person who provides guidance and support to youth in an overnight situation. Must be 18 years old and at least 2 years older than youth supervising. Required to complete a background screening and two risk management trainings.
• Level 1 Shooting Sports Instructor: Required to complete a background screening and two risk management trainings and a level 1 shooting sports training.
• Youth Project/Activity Volunteer: A youth volunteer that leads or assists with a specific 4-H project, program, or activity.
• Master Volunteer: Any person who has completed advanced training according to criteria determined by a specific educational program area and has demonstrated expertise and agreed to a voluntary, long-term commitment to 4-H.
• Youth Camp Counselor: A youth volunteer serving as a counselor at either an overnight or day camp who has received youth volunteer training