4-H is a community of young people across America who are learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills. The four-H's stand for: Head, Heart, Hands and Health. They represent the four points of the 4-H pledge: clearer thinking, greater loyalty, larger service, and better living.

4-H is the youth development program of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service conducted by Virginia Tech and Virginia State Universities. It is an informal, hands-on education approach focusing on building lifelong learning skills that develop youths' potential through community clubs, special-interest groups, camps and in-school programs. Projects cover subjects ranging from citizenship, foods and health, to animal sciences. These are "learn-by-doing" programs for youth ages 5-19.​