Fairfax County 4-H Portfolio Instructions Introduction The 4-H Portfolio is an opportunity for the member to record and analyze his or her learning experiences in the 4-H program. Members who submit portfolios for judging receive evaluation and recognition for their accomplishments. Who Should Submit Portfolios All members between the ages of 9 and 19 who complete a project may submit the project record alone for evaluation. However, creation and submission of a portfolio will result in a complete record of your 4-H year and meets several educational goals (see below). Cloverbud members may submit a modified version (see Cloverbud instructions) which will be evaluated, but not judged. Horse project members who wish to enter the State 4-H Horse Show must submit portfolios to be eligible to attend. Contents of a 4-H Portfolio COVER All portfolios should be submitted in an 8 ½ X 11 stiff binder, a pocket folder, or a notebook. PHOTO PAGE Mount a photo of yourself on a single page. Below the photo, print your name, age, dates of the 4-H year (ex. 2014-2015), and club name. TABLE OF CONTENTS Create a Table of Contents which shows the order of your information. You may use tab dividers or number the pages. Tabbed dividers are very helpful in organizing your pages. 2015 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 3000-0000 Virginia Cooperative Extension programs and employment are open to all, regardless of age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. An equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Edwin J. Jones, Director, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg; Jewel E. Hairston, Administrator, 1890 Extension Program, Virginia State, Petersburg.
YOUR 4-H STORY In your own words, write a story about your 4-H experience. o This will look different for each 4-H member. There is no limit to how short or long this should be, just make sure it gets across what you want to say o A well written 4-H story will include elements of the following: o Introduce yourself For example: Your age, interests, family, school o Tell about the project(s) you are submitting o What did you learn? Example: I learned how to thread a needle o How did your project grow? Example: After I learned how to thread a needle I wanted to learn more, so my club leader taught me how to thread a sewing machine. o What did you do that worked? Example: I grew a pumpkin that I entered in the fair. My pumpkin won a ribbon for first place. o What did you do that did not work? Example: I tried to grow corn, but it only grew 2 feet tall and did not produce any corn. I don t think there was enough sun where I planted the corn. o Tell about your 4-H club activities - Club events that stand out in your mind, major learning experiences, anything unusual or interesting that happened. Example: I brought my friend Hannah to our club ice cream social. o Explain how 4-H has helped you become a better leader and citizen o How has 4-H increased your interest in community affairs, How have you participated in your local community through 4-H? What have you learned from participating in team efforts? Example: As a member of the cancer awareness walk team, I learned how important it is that everyone do their part to work together. o Describe what 4-H has made you learn about yourself. o Has 4-H influenced how you use your free time? Example: I have been spending a lot of time working on my 4-H club webpage since I started the computer project this year. o Tell about any future plans you may have and a career you may want to pursue Example: I am interested in working for a greenhouse when I am older..
MEMBER RECORD FORM Complete this form. Add additional pages if necessary to complete the information about your activities. Form may be handwritten or typed, but should be neat. This form should include information about your general 4-H involvement; project specific activities will be listed on your project record(s). PROJECT RECORD FORM Submit one Project Record form for each project you complete during the 4-H year. Include your Project Book if it requires you to complete worksheets or document learning experiences in the book. If the project is an ongoing year-to-year project, you may wish to include the year-toyear project book update sheet. A portfolio must have at least one project record in order to be considered complete. Project Pictures & Keepsakes You may include a maximum of 4 pages of project related photos and keepsakes per project record that you submit. Please put these pages directly behind the project record form that they are associated with. General 4-H Photos / Additional Photos (no more than 4 pages) Pictures of your other 4-H activities with emphasis on leadership, community service, and awards. Pictures may have captions and may be cropped. Miscellaneous Keepsakes (non-photo) (no more than 4 pages) You may include pages of miscellaneous information such as awards, programs, or other materials which demonstrate your participation and/or achievement in 4-H. You may want to use one of the pages to list all of your individual 4-H fair awards or other awards you have received. Include any newspaper clippings or other media coverage of your 4-H activities and projects. Be selective and only include material which highlights your efforts to learn and grow through your 4-H experience. You may need a spreadsheet to record all of your activities (particularly at the senior level).
Submitting Your Portfolio for Judging Portfolios are due October 1 to the Extension Office of each year for judging. Awards will be given at the County Achievement Night each year. Judging, Awards, and Recognition Points will be awarded based upon the criteria found on the 4-H Portfolio Evaluation Sheet and the 4-H Project Record Evaluation Form. Each project record within the portfolio will receive a ribbon for the work exhibited in that project. Point Breakdown for Portfolios (for individual Projects): Blue: 90-100 points (35-45 points) Red: 80-89 points (25-34 points) White: 79 points and less (24 points and less) To earn a medal for a project book, a 4-Her must earn a blue ribbon for the project record and complete six activities towards that project. A medal in the project area will be awarded if the criteria listed above are met. In the case where more than one project record is presented in a portfolio, the scores from all of the project records will be averaged together. The resulting average project record score will be used to calculate the overall portfolio score. Ninety or more overall points must be earned in order to be awarded a certificate for the portfolio work. Special Awards: These awards recognize 4-Hers who have an excellent record of citizenship and leadership activities during the past year, as recorded in their portfolios. Wallace Covington Citizenship / Community Service Award 4-Hers completing a 4-H portfolio will be eligible to receive this award. The award may be used to recognize one junior, intermediate, and senior 4-Her each year.
James E. Swart Project Work / Leadership Award 4-Hers who submit a 4-H portfolio will be eligible to receive this award. The award may be used to recognize one junior, intermediate, and senior 4-Her each year. Educational Goals for 4-H Project Portfolios Goal #1: To teach 4-Hers fundamental record keeping skills Goal #2: To teach 4-Hers how to set goals and analyze what they have learned in 4-H Goal #3: To create a record of accomplishments, and document successes in 4-H and other experiences (this record will help 4-Hers apply for the All Star Award, the highest award in 4-H, when they become seniors) Goal #4: To provide 4-Hers an opportunity for recognition Project Portfolio Frequently Asked Questions 4-Hers are encouraged to keep their records up-to-date throughout the year in their own handwriting. Using a pencil so mistakes can be corrected is fine. Seniors are encouraged to type their final portfolio before submission. Others may submit typed portfolios if they prefer. Electronic copies of the portfolio forms are available on the Fairfax County 4-H webpage: http://fairfax4h.weebly.com/4-h-projects.html Please do not include ribbons in your portfolio if you wish you may include one picture of all of your ribbons with you list of individual awards that may be included in the miscellaneous (non-photo) section of the portfolio. Please make sure that you have all of the adult signatures needed remember signatures are needed on project record forms and the member record. You may leave a section of the forms blank if it does not apply to your project(s).
You can add additional pages for documentation to all of the forms as needed. You may fill out the form(s) in a project publication as a learning activity if you would like. However, judges will still need you to complete the Fairfax 4-H Project Record form in order to judge your project for Achievement Night awards. If you keep some records in a project publication, please submit that publication along with your project record form. Quality is better than quantity in project records and portfolios make sure all of your projects are well done and complete. If you have one amazing project, it will impress the judges more than 5 bad projects.