Illinois Award Application Tips
(from applications submitted in 2010)
General Tip – Be sure to follow formatting directions. If applications have
more than four pages, they do not even look at anything past the four pages.
If applications do not use correct margins, they may be disqualified as well.
General Tip – Try to make information easy for judges to find. Label the
areas which are being judged (Size/Growth, Knowledge & Skills,
Participation, Leadership, Community Service) if possible.
General Tip - Do not mention county or school in your story or on your
application anywhere. This gets ‘blacked out’ if it appears on your application
and then it gives the application a ‘messy’ look when judged at state.
Leadership in curriculum area – Tell how you’ve used your leadership skills –
what your responsibilities were (taught a club workshop or county workshop,
coordinated plans for a club event, or helped a younger 4-H member or a
family member learn in the curriculum area)
Size & Growth – show what years you took projects and how they
grew/expanded over the years (made more recipes, bred more animals, grew
new types of plants, created more powerpoint presentations, took more
photos, tried a different type of art project, etc.)
Additional 4/H Extension activities – be specific about community service –
be specific about WHAT you taught (don’t just list taught at Mini Camp –
what workshop?)
Be sure to list Community Service as a “category” – It is a specific area
that is scored, so to receive points for that area, you MUST have it listed.
A suggestion to get some community service in a particular curriculum area is
to organize an activity for your club in that area.
Community/School/Other – list years of involvement. Be sure to list if you
held an office in an organization or held a leadership position on a
committee. If you are short on space, list most current activities (not
things you were involved in 5-6 years ago), elaborate on most current
activities (last 3-4 years maybe)
4-H Stories –
 Proofread, proofread, proofread! Spelling errors, grammatical errors,
and typos should not be in your stories. Ask a parent, teacher, or 4-H
community worker to look over your stories.
 Make sure to explain how you have gained knowledge in the curriculum
area you are applying in (learned how to ration feed for hogs to get a
good weight, learned to use serger sewing machine, learned how to use
a lathe on my woodworking project, etc.)
 Need to include something about future plans (besides college) and
how 4-H involvement might have influenced your plans or career
choice and helped you arrive at that plan. How has 4-H influenced
your goals?? Future plans are a specific item scored in your story
– be sure to include it.
 Be specific on your skills learned in the curriculum area.
 Also need to include how 4-H has impacted your life and your family
(Has it brought you closer to your Dad because he helped you learn
about raising hogs or doing your woodworking project? Have you spent
more time with Grandma because she taught you sewing? Has your
whole family enjoyed trying the foods recipes you have made?)
 Story is allowed TWO pages – use them. To make your story longer,
explain in more detail skills you have learned, or you can make the title
larger, allow more space between paragraphs, or double space the
story.