Kansas State University

New & Updated Items for Kansas 4-H, 2025-2026

Submitted by Sarah E. Maass

Here are a few more things for everyone to make note of for the new 4-H year, 2025-2026: 

• 4-H Beyond Ready Wildcat Recognition – Check out the Teams post that was made in the K-State Extension Resources General Channel and Kansas 4-H Youth Development General Channel on Friday, September 12.  Items for this recognition should be in your state fair packet that you picked up in Hutchinson, and the ceremony and letter to agents can be found in this folder on the Kansas 4-H Youth Development Team (you must be a member of this team in order to view the materials).  If you find you have too many items, please save them for future years.  If you find you are missing items, please email kansas4h@ksu.edu, and we will have the item(s) ready for you to pick up at Annual Conference.

• Overnight 4-H Camps outside of Rock Springs Ranch – In 2024, a new section was added to the Kansas 4-H Policy document relating to overnight 4-H camps outside of Rock Springs Ranch.  The item added was to notify the local extension units and state about any overnight 4-H camps by using the Overnight 4-H Camp Notification Form.  Again, it is important to know that policy has not changed regarding overnight 4-H camps.  This form has been updated for the 2025-2026 4-H year and can be found on the Kansas 4-H Youth Development Camp Channel > Files > Overnight 4-H Camps outside of Rock Springs Ranch Form_2025.pdf
  
  
  Here is what has changed on the form:  NEW for 2025-2026:  We understand we will need to purchase our own secondary medical insurance policy for this overnight camp through American Income Life. 
  
  Why this change?  There has been a change in our state policy with American Income Life (AIL), which asks us to identify a number of campers and pay an additional insurance amount for overnight 4-H campers.  Kansas 4-H Policy, Section 3.6 states, “Kansas State University, K-State Extension, and Kansas 4-H recognize Rock Springs 4-H Camp, independently owned and operated by the Kansas 4-H Foundation, Inc., as the camping model for Kansas 4-H. Rock Springs 4-H Camp provides the only pre-approved camp model for Kansas 4-H and should therefore be the first choice for the local Extension Districts and Extension Councils (together, “Local Extension Units”).”  Rock Springs 4-H Camp covers campers under the insurance they obtain and does not fall under the Kansas 4-H AIL policy.  With the change in our state AIL policy and the fact that Kansas 4-H recognizes Rock Springs 4-H Camp as the only pre-approved camp model for Kansas 4-H, this expense will now fall under the Local Extension Units that host overnight 4-H camps. 
  
  Those who have already submitted this form will be notified of the need to resubmit.
  
  Remember, this document needs to be submitted no less than six months prior to the start of the overnight camp.

• Kansas 4-H Policy (09.23.2025) – The updated policy document will soon be posted to the website at https://www.kansas4-h.org/ > Resources > 4-H Policy and Best Management Practices.  As indicated in the new 4-H year kick-off webinar follow-up communication, the hyperlinks have been updated with the website rollover from earlier this year, and K-State Research & Extension has been updated with K-State Extension.