Honor Club

The 4-H Honor Club is organized statewide and provides recognition, primarily within counties, of junior high 4-H members who have demonstrated consistent leadership ability and have been active members in their clubs and communities. Tennessee 4-H Honor Club is one of three recognition levels that an outstanding 4-H member may achieve during their 4-H career. 4-H Honor Club membership is granted to those 4-H’ers who have shown exceptional 4-H project work and a willingness to share what they have learned with other 4-H’ers as a junior or teen leader. 

How Do I Join

You don’t have to have won a lot of awards to be an Honor Club member…just be an active participant in your local 4-H club. You don’t win membership in the Honor Club, you earn it. You’ll score points for Honor Club membership for everything you’ve done as a 4-H member. Participation is the name of the game when it comes to 4-H Honor Club! Here are a few things you need to do:

• Participate — complete your 4-H projects; make presentations; prepare exhibits; and attend 4-H events.
• Be a leader — help other 4-H’ers with their project work; serve in a leadership role with a group of younger 4-H’ers at an event or in your club; conduct a 4-H promotional activity.
• Be a good citizen — perform service activities in your community.
• Write a paragraph about your most rewarding experience as a 4-H junior or teen leader.

To be eligible for Honor Club, 4-H members must submit an application, be endorsed by their local 4-H leader, and approved by the state
4-H office. You can get an application from your 4-H agent or fill out the one available on this Web site. AFter you complete your applicaiton form, give it to your 4-H agent. If you score enough points, you can join the more than 2,400 Tennessee 4-H members who already enjoy the benefits of being an 4-H Honor Club member. Upon acceptance, a member receives a 4-H Honor Club certificate and an Honor Club key. 

Who Can Join?

Are you in at least the sixth grade? Have you been an active 4-H member? Do you enjoy leadership and citizenship activities? Then, maybe you can become a Tennessee 4-H Honor Club member!

Honor Club is for junior high (sixth, seventh, and eighth graders) and senior (ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders) 4-H’ers who have been active members of their local clubs. Membership is based on an application form. Anyone who can score a minimum number of points on the Tennessee 4-H Honor Club application can become a member. It’s not hard. You get points for everything you do…completing your projects, participating in events and activities, making presentations, helping other 4-H’ers, volunteering in your community…you even get points just for joining 4-H!

Anyone can become an Honor Club member if they’re just willing to participate…and participating is fun! Why not start working on your application today? Contact your county 4-H agent for an application or click the following link:

Why Should I Join?

And what if you earn Honor Club membership? Then what? That’s when the fun begins. You’ll be part of a club with members just like you; 4-H members are doers and want to get involved with their friends in 4-H activities. 

In most counties, Honor Club meets as a countywide club on a monthly or quarterly basis. Honor Club members become involved in educational, recreational, and community service activities. These activities could include helping with 4-H shows, fairs, and workshops; making window displays; serving as project leaders; attending weekend camps; special trips or tours; dances and parties. Honor Club members might be involved in bike-a-thons, tree planting, Christmas caroling, and hiking trips. A favorite activity of Honor Clubs is taking exchange trips where 4-H members have the opportunity to visit 4-H members in other states.

All in all, Honor Club can be anything and everything you want to make it. Opportunities for citizenship and service activities and leadership and project development are key in Honor Club work. The tables below denote the number of new 4-H Honor Club members each county has initiated in the given year. 

And…Honor Club is only the first step in Tennessee’s recognition program for outstanding 4-H members. Senior members can earn a spot in All Stars through their citizenship and community service work. All Stars is the second step leading to the final step of recognition. Vol State is the highest recognition a Tennessee 4-H member can earn, and it all starts with the 4-H Honor Club.