COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio middle- and high school-aged youth have the opportunity to track their Ohio 4-H youth development participation and earn digital badges in the skills needed to be successful in the future. Students can do this thanks to BuckeyeNext, an app in which young people can earn points for activities, event attendance and accomplishments during their 4-H career.

“The Ohio 4-H Pathways to the Future initiative partnered with Suitable to design BuckeyeNext, which is built like a game where youth can identify the opportunities available through Ohio 4-H, organize their categories or participation and track their cumulative progress in real time,” says Margo Overholt-Seckel, program manager for Ohio 4-H Workforce Development and Pathways. “It provides insight about how 4-H experiences align with various skills that employers are seeking in their future workforce.”

Built like a game, this app provides fun, engagement and impact. It gives youth a way to easily identify the opportunities available through Ohio 4-H, organize their categories of participation and track their cumulative progress in real-time.

BuckeyeNext is comprised of activities, events, and project-specific opportunities available through 4-H. Participants receive points for completing an activity. The standings are updated on a leaderboard where they can compete with their peers. Participants then earn achievement badges in various categories for completing a series of activities. Badges exist for levels, competencies, events, programs and more.

Last summer Ohio 4-H youth from 20 counties piloted the BuckeyeNext platform at the Ohio 4-H SparkEXPO and tracked their learning experiences. 

“BuckeyeNext is the result of hard work and hours of thinking outside the box to make recordkeeping easier and provide certifications for our members,” said Jessica Adams, 4-H educator in Miami County. “Our hard work paid off when we were announced as one of the three Suitable Innovator Award recipients.”

Sophia Preston, a Fairfield County 4-H member, said, “The BuckeyeNext app is very easy and simple to use. It helps with 4-H records because you can look back and remember what you’ve done, and the competition part pushes you do to more.”

Youth who participate will create a digital portfolio and transcript that demonstrates how their abilities align with the eight career-readiness competencies identified by the National Association of Colleges and Employers: Career & Self-Development, Communication, Critical Thinking, Equity & Inclusion, Leadership, Professionalism, Teamwork and Technology.

The backbone of BuckeyeNext is the Ohio 4-H Pathways to the Future program. This college and career-readiness program is a partnership with Ohio 4-H and the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences to prepare youth to accomplish their college and career goals following high school.

BuckeyeNext is open to all youth beginning in their eighth grade year. Youth will engage in specialized events, activities and curricula focused on career exploration and career readiness. This program is focused on career exploration and career readiness. It is also focused on developing and refining skills through experiences and a variety of strategies to help youth successfully transition to post-high school earning experiences and the workforce. 

In an effort to engage 4-Hers during the summer months, Ohio 4-H offers its SparkEXPO, a four-day, three-night time of fun and learning at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center in Columbus. This event is for students who have completed the eighth grade at the end of the current year and offers activities designed to explore a variety of career and educational opportunities.

“Not all students find their way to a four-year college, so we want to ensure all young people know 4-H is a space to prepare them for wherever their path may lead them after high school,” Overholt-Seckel said. “Spark introduces them to a variety of educational and career opportunities they may not know about.”

This is the third year for SparkEXPO.

Another engaging program for Ohio 4-H students is YouScience, an online scientific program which helps students chart their path from ‘I don’t know’ to post-secondary pursuits and career confidence and success. 

By completing a series of fun and engaging ‘brain-games,’ students learn where their natural strengths are and how they can leverage their strengths in post-secondary pursuits and beyond. YouScience combines decades of rigorous scientific research and cutting-edge matching algorithms to uniquely identify the intersection of a student’s strengths, passions, and future opportunities. YouScience brings students data-driven insights about themselves and their future.