MINNESOTA 4-H. CLOVER UPDATE Southeast Region - FREEBORN COUNTY. Freeborn Calendar of Events

Transcription

1 MINNESOTA 4-H CLOVER UPDATE Southeast Region - FREEBORN COUNTY October 2014 Calendar Freeborn Calendar of Events OCTOBER 5-11 National 4-H Week 5 National 4-H Sunday 7-Record Judging in Freeborn Room at 6:30 p.m. 8National Youth Science Day 8- Youth Activity Fairlane 5-7 p.m. 20 Leader s Council Meeting *note change of date as Megan & Amy are both gone for the 27 th 24 Cloverbud Halloween Party from 7-8:30 p.m. CONTACT US Megan Thorson Amy Wadding 411 So Broadway PO BOX 1147 Albert Lea MN /freeborn NOVEMBER 3 Alden Club Banquet 8 4-H Recognition Banquet at American Legion in Albert Lea at 5pm 9 Hartland Club Banquet 11 Veteran s Day Holiday Office Closed 16 Hayward Club Banquet 16 - Moscow Club Banquet 17 Myrtle Club Banquet 18 - Oakland Club Banquet 23 Riceland Club Banquet 24 - Fall Leader Training*note change of date 27, 28 Thanksgiving Holiday Office Closed DECEMBER 13-Cloverbud Holiday Party 24, 25-Christmas Holiday-Office Closed

2 PAGE 2 WILD CARD WINNERS from County Fair: Congratulations to the following 4-H ers who helped as a youth leader at the fair and name was drawn for one of our Walmart Gift Cards: Payton Cech, Myrtle Toni Chicos, Conger Julia Otten, Hayward Brent Hanson, Twin Lakes John Hoelscher, Hartland Cole Lenort, Hartland Foster Otten, Hayward Austin Suhr, Mansfield Ryan Hanson, Twin Lakes Matt Cheever, Conger Raven Suhr, Mansfield Levi Sorensen, Alden Club Bennett Stadheim, Hartland Christian Voss, Shellrock Stop into the Extension Office for your gift card. Re-enrollment on mn.4honline.com: You can now go on and enroll or re-enroll for the H Year. If you receive an error message or something doesn t seem quite right, please let the Extension Office know at We have already had reports of weird things happening. Be signing up for the year now you will be in the know when it comes to us sending materials out. Congratulations To our 2 scholarship winners that were presented with a scholarship at the 2014 MN State Fair. Sam Johnson from the Myrtle Club received a $2000 scholarship and Riley Ruble from the Alden Club received a $1000 scholarship. These two received their scholarships from the proceeds of the 4-H Auction that is held at the MN State Fair each year. WANTED: Adults or Youth Leaders Do you personally like to bake, paint, garden, do crafts, scrapbook, fish, do wood projects, etc? WE are looking for adult leaders to help teach a project at our county project workshop that will be held this winter. Share your expertise and talents with others. You can fly solo or tag team with another adult or youth! If you are interested, please contact Amy or Megan with your project area you are interested in helping with! Community Pride Ideas For Does your club need an idea for Community Pride? There are several projects at the County Fairgrounds that could use some help and revamping. A few ideas are revamping/relandscaping around the east side of the 4-H Building (in front of building); re-painting and stenciling the county show boxes; revamping the lunch area in the indoor judging arena (redoing the boards, painting, re-laminating the countertops. These are just ideas. Amy and Megan are more than willing to help clubs apply for any grants. These grants are Helping Hands Grants from MN 4-H Foundation and also the Freeborn- Mower Cooperative Operation Round-up grants.

3 PAGE 3 Record Judging: Club Charter Renewals: 4-H Records were due to the Extension Office by Monday September 22 nd. The County Record Judging will take place on Tuesday October 7 th at 6:30pm in the Freeborn Room at the Courthouse. Each club that nominates its BEST records to the county level will need to have a representative come and help on record judging night for your club s records to be considered for any awards. Please call the office at with who is coming from your club. These are due to our office by November 1 st. If your club needs assistance in completing the forms, please let the Office know so that we can help get them completed. County 4-H Banquet: The County 4-H Banquet will be held at the American Legion in Albert Lea. It will be on Saturday November 8 th at 5pm. Youth Activity Fair: Freeborn County 4-H is part of the Community Partners group. Any youth serving organization that chooses to be a part of this Youth Activity Fair will have a table with information/activities in the Fairlane Building on Wednesday October 8 th from 5-7pm. It is a one stop shop to see what you can get your child involved with in Freeborn County. National 4-H Week: National 4-H Week is October 5-11, We have bulletin inserts for your clubs in the Extension Office. Call ahead to make sure we have enough for you. Try to do something for National 4-H Week to help get the word out about 4-H in Freeborn County. Cloverbud Halloween Party: This will be held on Friday October 24 th from 7-8:30pm in the Fairlane Building. A RSVP is NEEDED. Call the Extension Office at to sign up. Costumes are very much welcomed! Club Banquets: Make sure to get your club date on the calendar so that staff can make arrangements to attend. Wendy also needs some time to get your club s information put together. Call the Extension Office at to let us know your banquet date. (If possible, hold it after the County Banquet on Sat. Nov. 8 th so that any awards not picked up can be represented at your Club Banquet). Capitol Tour/Valleyscare: Spend the day Thursday, October 16, with 4 H to explore Minnesota s leadership and your own! If you are a club/county officer or even considering it for the next couple years, come on this leadership bus tour. The tour will be very interactive. Once you get on the bus, you will be working hands on with officer duties and parliamentary procedure, stop and tour the Minnesota State Capitol, and end the trip with Valley Scare (optional for those in grade 7th and up). A separate bus will also head home for those not wanting to go to Valley Scare. A

4 PAGE 4 flyer will be sent to those of age as well as one given to each club. Interested in attending National 4-H Conference? If so, Freeborn County 4-H pays for half of your fee! A heads up that application information for the National 4-H Conference will be available in late September. Four youth will be chosen to attend on behalf of Minnesota 4-H in Washington DC, April 11-16, The delegates will choose an important societal topic and will prepare a briefing to federal offices with youth from across the country. Participants will also engage in skill-development sessions, tour Washington DC monuments, and visit with legislators or their committees on Capitol Hill. This is a fantastic opportunity for youth to broaden their understanding of citizenship at the national level. Applications will be due Nov. 18, Please encourage youth in your area to apply. For further information, contact Judith Conway, conw0076@umn.edu. Scholarship available: The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation supports more than 1,400 college students each year, with annual scholarships of $3.4 million through two nationally recognized programs on behalf of the Coca-Cola system. Scholarship recipients excel academically and in service to others. Most Coca- Cola scholars share a passion for social justice and many have overcome tremendous challenges to pursue their dreams. The Coca-Cola Scholars Program Scholarship is an achievement-based scholarship awarded to graduating high school seniors each year. Students are recognized for their capacity to lead and serve, and their commitment to making a significant impact on their schools and communities. More information is available at: BLU Dates: February 21 and 22 in Rochester (closest to Freeborn County) We encourage youth in grades 6+ to attend BLU. You will learn valuable leadership, make awesome new friends, and have an amazing time! Executive Council officers get to go for FREE. The dates and locations for the 2014 Building Leadership & Understanding (BLU) retreats have been set! Additional information on registration dates and processes will be sent by mid October. 4-H BLU is open to youth in grades 6th grade through one year past high school. Volunteer chaperones will also be needed at each event. 4- H YELLO! dates will be shared soon as well. Central BLU: Feb. 7-8, 2015 Holiday Inn Minneapolis NW 9200 Quaday Ave NE Ostego, MN Northwest BLU: Feb , 2015 Days Inn of Moorhead th Avenue S Moorhead, MN Southeast BLU: Feb , 2015 Kahler Grand Hotel 20 2nd Ave SW Rochester, MN Northeast BLU: Feb Mar. 1, 2015 Inn on Lake Superior

5 PAGE Canal Park Drive Duluth, MN Southwest BLU: Feb Mar. 1, 2015 Ramada Inn 1500 E College Drive Marshall, MN Save the Date: Shooting Sports Training will be held on April 25 and 26 at Ahlman s in Morristown, MN. We need more help in shotgun,.22, and archery as those instructors are getting burned out. Without instructors we cannot offer that discipline in our shooting sports program. The 4-H Program pays for you to get trained. Call the Extension Office at for more information. 4-H Fall Volunteer Training 2014 NOTE CHANGE OF DATE FROM PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS: We will host our annual Fall Volunteer Training on Monday November 24 th from pm in the Fairlane Building. Minnesota 4-H has stated that each club needs to have someone participate in this training. You can bring 1 person or 50 people from your club. You can bring all youth or all adults or a mix. We will have snacks, beverages, and door prizes to hand out. Call the Extension Office at so we know how many to plan for. Making 4-H MORE Fun! The statewide fall volunteer training is for all 4- H youth & adult volunteers in clubs and countywide groups and programs, including PDC s, Federations, Leader s Council and others. At least one volunteer from each club needs to plan on attending, but you are encouraged to come as a team of youth and adults. Participants will dig into ideas and activities to get 4-H ers engaged and excited. Discover grab and go resources that are available in your county and region to add fun to your 4-H club, project, afterschool or group gatherings. Resources will include 4-H club ideas, healthy living, animal science, science, and more. You will leave this training with: A toolkit of ready-to-use ideas to get kids involved in fun! Ideas from other volunteers on what works for them. A plan to increase the fun in your 4-H group. Join us Date: Monday November 24, 2014 Location: Fairlane Building at the Fairgrounds Time: 6:30-8:30pm If the date above does not work for your team, please check the web link below to find additional training dates, locations, and times that may work better for you and your team; volunteers are welcomed at any location. For more information or to register, please contact: Wendy at or weiss042@umn.edu Young people stay in 4-H because it s fun! Find out how to create vibrant 4-H experiences that will make members want to keep coming back.

6 PAGE 6 4-H Volunteer Corner Trained Volunteers The Competitive Edge in Youth Recruitment and Retention Fall marks the start of the new school year. Along with it comes the opportunity to enroll in out-of- school organizations and program opportunities. Times have drastically changed in the world of out-of-school youth programs. A few decades ago in many communities, outof- school opportunities were limited to school sports, as well as faith-based youth groups and organizations such as 4-H and Scouts. Today, out-of-school programs have become a highly competitive market with youth and parents having to carefully pick and choose from a seemingly unlimited list of programs and organizations. As parents and youth shop for a youth program, they assess the quality of the program based on the following questions: Is it fun? Is the learning environment safe? Are caring adults leading the program? Are there educational opportunities that appeal to the child s interest? Finally, will the child experience a sense of belonging? Youth organizations that are highly proficient at insuring a quality learning environment have a competitive edge not only in recruiting new members but also in retaining current members. Trained volunteers who apply what they have learned make all the difference. In the Minnesota 4-H Program, training comes in a variety of topics and formats. Interactive 30-minute online training modules will help volunteers build their leadership skills and knowledge from home. Explore the variety of training topics. H/volunteer/online-training/ The 2014 Volunteer Training Topic: Making 4-H More Fun! is offered as a faceto-face training in each county. Individuals will leave this training with the following resources: A toolkit of ready-to-use ideas to get kids involved in fun! Ideas from other volunteers on what works for them. A plan to increase the fun in your 4-H group. If the county training date does not work for your schedule, please check the web link below to find additional dates, locations, and times. Volunteers are welcomed at any location around the state. As we begin the new 4-H year, remember: Positive youth development begins with trained volunteers. Patrick Jirik is an Extension Educator working with Volunteer Systems based out of the Rochester Regional Extension Office. In This Issue Message from Dorothy National 4-H Conference Citizenship Washington Focus Online enrollment for 4-H families Calendar Message from Dorothy Dear 4-H families and volunteers, It's hard to believe that fall is here! We've had another wonderful and successful summer of county and state fairs where we saw the learning and accomplishments of thousands of 4-H'ers from across the state. This month, we will celebrate National 4-H Week Oct H families and volunteers will participate in events in your counties to recognize all of the ways youth are learning and leading in 4-H. Minnesota 4-H'ers will also join millions of young people to become scientists for the day on 4-H National Youth Science Day (NYSD) on Oct. 8, The goal of the event is to spark an interest in science, technology, engineering and math, and get youth excited about science, which

7 PAGE 7 can lead to future college degrees and careers in science. This year's 4-H NYSD experiment is Rocket to the Rescue! In light of the recent natural disasters such as Typhoon Haiyan, this year youth participating in 4-H NYSD will design and build an aerodynamic food transportation device that can deliver a payload of nutritious food to disaster victims! The experiment will help youth learn engineering concepts, develop math skills, learn about nutrition and help solve a relevant, global issue. The 4-H NYSD is an important part of Minnesota 4-H's priority to spark an interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and provides a great opportunity to engage new audiences of youth in our 4-H STEM programs. It's also time for 4-H youth to choose what they want to explore and learn about in 4-H for the next year. Discovering what sparks their interest is an essential element in building a passion for life-long learning. qualities at the county, regional and/or state level, please consider talking with your program coordinator and apply for this national leadership opportunity. Other qualifications are listed on the website. If you need further information, please contact Judith A. Conway at conw0076@umn.edu. Citizenship Washington Focus Can you see yourself in Washington, D.C. next summer? Do you want to expand your knowledge on citizenship and have an opportunity to practice citizenship back home? Be sure to check out the 4-H events website on Oct. 22 and see if Citizenship Washington Focus is for you. Website URL found at Online enrollment for 4-H families I hope you take advantage of these opportunities to recognize the 4-H'ers in your county and their accomplishments from the past year, and encourage and support them as they set their goals for the coming year. Sincerely, Dorothy M. Freeman Associate Dean and State 4-H Director National 4-H Conference The 4-H events website contains new and updated information regarding the 2015 National 4-H Conference. An informational brochure, application materials, recommendation forms, and insight into the fall 2014 selection process can be found at this site. Application deadline includes a Nov. 18, 2014, postmark date. See URL at Enrollment for the new 4-H year is now open and Minnesota 4-H families are reminded and encouraged to go to 4HOnline to enroll/re-enroll both youth members and adult volunteers. The process is quick and easy; even families with multiple youth should be done in ten minutes or less. Re-enrolling ensures that critical communications will be received, especially as it relates to deadlines and project specific information. Detailed information about online enrollment and re-enrollment is available at: H/4honline/. Youth, their parents and adult volunteers, as part of enrolling or re-enrolling, will all be agreeing to the Minnesota 4-H Code of Conduct, which is available for review in its entirety, along with other policy and authorization statements at or by contacting your local Extension office: H.umn.edu/county. If you are 4-H member that meets age requirements and have portrayed leadership

8 PAGE 8 Calendar OCTOBER 3-4 SS&W Leader Certification, Palisades, MN FEBRUARY 7-8 Central BLU, Minneapolis, MN Northwest BLU, Moorhead, MN 5-11 National 4-H Week 8 4-H National Youth Science Day (NYSD) NOVEMBER 18 National 4-H Conference application deadline Southeast BLU, Rochester, MN 28-Mar. 1 Northeast BLU, Duluth, MN 28-Mar. 1 Southwest BLU, Marshall, MN APRIL 6-11 National 4-H Conference

9 PAGE 9

10 PAGE 10