Are you ready to innovate change in your 4-H program? Oklahoma 4-H is excited to invite you to our sixth annual 4-H Innovate Youth Leadership Summit! Challenge yourself to learn new leadership skills to teach STEM related workshops in your local community.

 

This three-day summit is designed to challenge 4-H youth from 8th-12th grade, to learn and teach STEM programs to other youth in the state of Oklahoma. This year's Youth Innovate Leadership Summit will include a 2-track system, each track consists of at least three workshops related to the track topic. During the summit attending youth will participate in activities where they will learn in-depth how to not only do the workshop successfully but also how to replicate and teach it to others. 

 

The Summit will be followed up by three one hour Zoom meetings. These meetings will be a lesson-study process to help the teens collaborate to improve their teaching skills.

 

• Innovate Summit Flyer

 

2025 Innovate Summit Event Info

• Location: Owasso, OK
• Date: Feb 28-Mar 2
• Cost: $100

Track Workshops (Subject to Change):

- Forensic Science

- Engineering

Please keep in mind that the track you pick, will be the topic you will learn about at the summit.  Tracks will be assigned on a first come/first served basis.  Participants will have access to educational materials for all tracks.  In addition to these tracks, participants will engage in teambuilding activities, and gain insight on how to teach a successful workshop. 

 

Application:

Youth and adults should contact their County Extension Office to obtain the application information. 

 

Registration fees will be paid to your County Extension Office once you have been accepted. Please note, the registration fee covers hotel accommodations, meals, snacks, and other program materials.

• Applicants must be active 4-H members in 8th-12th grades. 
• Past Innovators are encouraged to reapply. 
• Youth will need to bring an Adult Partner to participate in the conference with them. The adult partner must be a County Educator or a Certified 4-H Volunteer.  Adults may partner with multiple youth. 
• Youth selected will serve as STEM Innovators for a 1-year term.  Innovators must reapply each year.

Registration Deadline: Sunday, February 2 by 11:45pm

 

Youth and Adult Partner Expectations:

STEM Innovators will:

• Support the work of 4-H STEM.
• Reach a minimum of 250 youth through the workshops they teach by December 31, 2025.
• Report workshop attendance and outcomes via Microsoft Form.
• Provide Leadership at a minimum of one State 4-H STEM event.
• Participate in a minimum of two Zoom Meetings.

Adult Partners will:

• Support the work of 4-H STEM.
• Provide guidance to Teens to help them reach goals.
• Facilitate opportunities, as needed.
• Adults may partner with multiple youth.

 

Tentative Schedule:

Day 1

• 6:00pm-7:00pm - Registration
• 7:00pm-8:00pm - Welcome & Expectations
• 8:00pm-10:00pm - Teambuilding
• 10:00pm - Curfew

Day 2

• 8:00am-8:30am - Breakfast
• 8:30am-10:00am - Workshop 101
• 10:00am-12:00pm - Workshop Tracks
• 12:00pm-1:00pm - Lunch
• 1:00pm-3:00pm - Workshop Tracks
• 3:00pm-6:00pm - Group Lessons
• 6:00pm-7:00pm - Dinner 
• 7:00-8:00pm - Planning & Reporting
• 8:00-11:00 - Teambuilding
• 11:00 - Curfew

Day 3

• 8:00am-8:30am - Breakfast
• 9:00am-11am - Community Service Project
• 11am - Depart for home

 

Additional Information:

For the last five years, Oklahoma 4-H has hosted the 4-H Innovate Youth Leadership Summit where teens from around the state come together to learn more about STEM. The Innovate Summit is a youth development program designed to teach youth life skills and introduce teens to career opportunities in agriculture, computer science, STEM, and education. Attending youth will be introduced to these opportunities through workshops and be challenged to go teach these workshops to younger 4-H members and other youth around the state. Over the past five years, Oklahoma 4-H has trained over 160 teens, from 28 counties. In total, Innovators have reported reaching more than 31,000 individuals through STEM programming.

 

Project Goals:

• Introduce 4-H youth to STEM
• Train participants to teach STEM workshops to other youth
• Challenge participants to return home and teach at least 200 youth STEM programming
• Train adult partners to assist teens in their STEM programming
• Hold Lesson Study Zoom meetings following the training to form a Community of Practice among the teens to help them present their workshops
• Have youth report workshop attendance and outcomes via Microsoft Forms to track their progress and document their activity
• Evaluate the process

Along with training teens, we also strive to include adult partners. 4-H is based on youth working with adult partners who help them succeed. This project requires all attending youth to have an adult partner to help them successfully participate in the program and return home to teach Innovate workshops. Adults may partner with multiple youth.