By Bruce Bartlett

Open House, Saturday, October 24, 10 am-2 pm, Visitation Parish Center, 4189 NW Visitation Road, Forest Grove

The theme of the 2026 National 4-H Week (October 4-10) “Beyond Ready,”reminds us that 4-H challenges young people to grow a generation ready to become engaged, successful, independent and interdependent productive adults. “Head, Hearts, Hands and Health” has expanded far from its strong agricultural roots, and today 4-H helps young people explore the real world around them by providing experiences to learn by doing using emerging research for positive youth development. 4-H is recognized for the significant impact it makes by empowering youth with the skills they need for a lifetime.

With over 30 4-H clubs in Washington County and exciting new activities like D&D, shooting sports, robotics, civic leadership and a cat club, theres something for everyone to explore! Our High Voltage robotics team from Bethany competed at the FIRST® World Championship for the first time this year, finishing among the top five alliances in their division playoffs at one of the largest K-12 robotics events in the world.

Interested in joining 4-H? Come to the 4-H Open House to learn more about the programs 4-H offers, and meet 4-H club members and leaders!

4-H is America’s largest youth development organization, supporting six million youth across the country with programs delivered by the Cooperative Extension System–a community of more than 100 public land-grant colleges and universities in every county across the Nation. Oregon State University very capably fulfills this charter for us.