State Newsletter

Over the past few months, many of you have heard me talk about the notion of youth engagement. By youth engagement, I am talking about the genuine and meaningful involvement of young people in sharing their knowledge, talents, and energies for the purpose of individual growth and either organizational or societal change. We can engage youth in meaningful ways within the 4-H organization. But even more importantly, we can help build pathways for youth to become engaged in the communities we serve.

A new publication released by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation entitled Youth Engagement: A Celebration Across Time and Culture chronicles the history of how young people have long been leaders of social change. According to the report, "young people have catalyzed and fueled social change movements throughout history and around the world. Their contributions of inspiration, creativity, and public work have laid the foundation for modern approaches to community-based problem solving, civic participation, and a range of social justice efforts that are cornerstones of our democracy."

As Oregon deals with issues such as the future of rural communities, environmental quality, and the economy, it is essential that young people be at the table. According to the Kellogg report, "a healthy democracy requires that people learn, listen, dream, and work together as they unleash their collective potential to build the common good. When young people are excluded from participation in this dynamic, the potential for common good is deeply diminished. A high degree of youth involvement not only develops leadership and civic skills in young people, but also adds much needed energy and perspective into change efforts, policy debates, and governance at all levels."

4-H has a great history of developing the leadership skills of young people. When we only allow them to practice those skills within the 4-H organization, we shortchange our communities. As we move into the future, I hope that all of us take an active role in building avenues for youth engagement within communities.

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Calendar

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4-H Afterschool

Many of you participated in regional informational seminars for the Oregon OST Network. This is the group I have been working with for the past year. We have officially changed the name to Oregon ASK (the ASK is for After School for Kids). It is still including all out-of-school times such as summer and vacations. You will be hearing more from this statewide network in 2006. I am including an interesting article about recruitment and retention of students in afterschool programs from the Afterschool Advocate.

~ Joan Engeldinger

Recruiting and Retaining Afterschool Students click here for more information

Grant possibilities click here for more information

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Ag in the Classroom

February 2006 Calendar Picture

Laura B. " Grade 6, South Baker Elementary " Teacher: Ethelyn Carr

You will find daily agricultural facts with student artwork on our website at http://AITC.oregonstate.edu. The following are a few February 2006 Calendar Facts:
" February is National Cherry month.
" It takes about 250 cherries to make a cherry pie.
" Butterflies need warmth from the sun to fly.
" 215 pairs of jeans can be made from one bale of cotton.
" Butterflies "taste" with their feet.
" Caterpillars have over 1,000 muscles.

Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Essay Contest (click here for printable brochure)
AITC invites all 9-12th grade students to enter the 2nd annual AITC essay contest. This competition has been designed to give maximum recognition to all schools, teachers and students who participate, including cash awards to winning students as well as plaques to prominently display in schools. Deadline for entries is March 1. Visit the AITC website at http://AITC.oregonstate.edu for information on essay topics, rules and awards or call (541)737-8629.

Oregon Ag Fest - April 29 and 30, 2006
Oregon Ag Fest was created to help better educate the public about the importance of agriculture. Ag Fest demonstrates how important ag's economic impact and practices are: showing kids such things as where the food they eat comes from, how sheep are raised for the wool to make clothing, to the importance of our forests for ecology and human survival. Visit the AITC website for a link to Ag Fest and for lesson ideas to supplement an Ag Fest field trip.
http://AITC.oregonstate.edu

~ Tami Kerr, Program Director (541) 737-8629
~ Cathy McClaughry, Education Assistant (541) 737-1318

Animal Science

Oregon Fryer Commission and Northwest Poultry Council 9th Annual Youth Pen of Fryers Contest 2006

We just received a copy of the Annual Hoard's Dairyman cow Judging Contest. Reprints of the five classes of dairy cows are available free. The classes consist of four colored pictures representing 5 dairy breeds. Hoard's will send reprints and special entry blanks to each 4-H leader if you send them a list of your leaders, with complete mailing addresses and indicate the number of members in each club. The reprints are available on a first come first served basis and the entry deadline is March 23, 2006.

Four cash awards will be offered to the winning 4-H clubs. In addition, the winners will receive framed certificates. Official placings and reasons will be published in the April 25 issue of Hoard's Dairyman and winners will be announced in the May 10 issue.

To request your copies of the contest, contact Hoard's Dairyman - email hoards@hoards.com or call 920/563-7298.

Camp

The manual is on line at the state 4-H website under printed materials, CAMP. The Benchmarks and Appendices in this manual provide a guide to achieving best practices in Oregon 4-H Resident Camp programs. Only those Benchmarks noted as "required" are mandatory. The required procedures are mandatory only if the camp plans to offer the activity or service- it is not intended to imply that all 4-H camps are required to provide any of the activities or services listed in the manual. A Checklist of Required Procedures is provided on page 16. Please contact Virginia if you have any questions or concerns as you plan your 2006 program.

Every county should have received a copy of the book Secret Encounters- Addressing Sexual Behaviors in Group Setting. It would have arrived in early summer, if you ordered it after Staff Conference or in your State 4-H Office packet picked up on campus at Extension Conference. Additional copies may be purchased from the American Camping Association Bookstore at 800-428-2267.

Please spend some time reviewing the information in this book and planning how you will address these issues at your camp training programs.

The goals of the book are to help you:
1. Understand how personal values and beliefs influence people's reactions to sex and sexuality at camp.
2. Create a camp environment and culture less conducive to inappropriate sexual behavior.
3. Respond to appropriate and inappropriate sexual events when they occur.

Expressive Arts

At the December curriculum updates, I mentioned two new publications in Art that were recently released by 4-H Cooperative Curriculum System (4-HCCS). We will be adopting these at the state level to support the 4-H Art project. They will be listed in the Clover for 2006-2007. I have two sets that may be borrowed if you would like to review them. Like the rest of 4-HCCS materials we use, these books must be ordered on the annual pre-press order that will be sent to counties in February. Be sure to order what you need for 2006-07 on the pre-press order; we will not have additional inventory to fill mid-year orders. This does offer you the advantage of quantity discount of approximately 25% over ordering directly from CCS. The cost should be about $6 per book with the discount.

Unlike the Palette of Fun which is primarily a teacher/leader guide, these publications are intended to be member guides. They are indicated for grades 7 - 12 but with guidance from leaders, could certainly be adapted for younger artists who were more serious than the activities offered in Palette of Fun. There are more than enough areas to explore and build on for a series of years. They are based on the application of the elements and principles of design and do an excellent job of introducing techniques, media, and equipment. Both publications indicate they will connect to extra online information but that site does not seem to be operational yet.

Sketchbook Crossroads Table of Contents includes:
Drawing - line, shading, perspective, drawing in the round, paper choices, blending lines, colored pencils, pen & ink, calligraphy, cartooning
Fiber Arts - felting, cotton linter, batik, weaving - lap loom & inkle loom, dying, patchwork
Sculpture - both additive and subtractive methods for containers, heads, masks; assemblage with cardboard, wire sculpting, carving, kinetic sculpture

Portfolio Pathways Table of Contents includes:
Painting - acrylics, watercolor, shapes/lines/color, sand painting, self portraits, oil painting, perspective, encaustic painting
Printing - print blocks (cardboard), sun prints, dry point etching, wax resist painting, making rubber stamps, linoleum prints, hand drawn photographic negatives, monoprints
Graphic Design - positive & negative space, designing with color, designing using type, computer self portrait, design in advertisements, drawing on a computer, optical illusions.

If you have further questions or would like to borrow review copies, please contact me.

Home Economics

Are you or your leaders looking for resources to teach 4-H food preservation? Then check out the National Center for Home Food Preservation website http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation is your source for current research-based recommendations for most methods of home food preservation. The Center was established with funding from the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (CSREES-USDA) to address food safety concerns for those who practice and teach home food preservation and processing methods. The site is developed by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service. You will also find current research-based recommendations from the USDA, NCHFP, The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service, and other land-grant universities in the Cooperative Extension System at this site.

In addition, the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service also has two additional resources that can be accessed through the National Center for Home Food Preservation website (see above):

So Easy to Preserve -Recommended Home Food Preservation Practices is a 2 DVD set that includes eight shows with the most up-to-date recommendations for preserving fresh foods and great taste in your home. The shows include: Canning Tomatoes; Canning Vegetables; Canning Fruits; Freezing Foods; Home Canning Basics; Pickling; Jams & Jellies; Specialties; and Drying Foods. The DVD costs $39.95.

Preserving Food at Home: A Self Study Online Course. This free, self-paced, online course is for those wanting to learn more about home canning and preservation. Topics include: Introduction to Food Preservation; General Canning; Canning Acid Foods; Canning Low-Acid Foods. Web access is needed to complete the course.

Check the 4-H Clover or the state 4-H website for the OSU Extension publications that are available for 4-H leaders and members. Each county office should have a "Family Food Education Resource Notebook" that includes a variety of fact sheets developed by OSU Extension food safety and preservation specialists - check with the FCD agent or secretary. These fact sheets are updated regularly - so make sure you have the most current version. There are two OSU Extension websites where you can also find these fact sheets:

A new Exhibit Card has been developed for all Food Preservation exhibits. It will replace the requirement of a label on the containers. It has much more room for members to write as they provide the necessary information for the judges to determine the safety of the processing method the member has followed. Note that all exhibits will need the recipe and/or processing instructions included with the card for all products. Attaching a copy of the recipe or instructions is as acceptable as writing on the back of the explanation card. The explanation card can be found on the state 4-H website

It is time to be thinking about the 2006 judging contests for Foods & Nutrition and Sewing/Clothing for county use. Topics and some suggested resources for each of the areas are attached. At the Intermediate and Senior levels, the same topics will be used for the State Fair contest. As in the past few years, these contests are available to counties for $15 each (total $30 for the two contests). The Oregon 4-H Foundation will prepare invoices for those counties ordering the contests. Please respond by email no later than March 1 so we will know how many packets to prepare. In past years contest packets have been delivered at the Spring Staff Development Conference in late April. Since that will be a PNW conference in Boise, I will evaluate other options for delivery, perhaps through Oregon Leader Forum or Know Your State Government. Packets will be ready by mid April. If you have special need for earlier delivery, please contact me to discuss it.

Horticulture

New Horticulture Herb Score sheets on line

Please direct your 4-H members to check out the new herb score sheets for herb container garden, dried and fresh exhibits. There are specific new requirements, particularly for the information cards. These changes will be reflected in the fair book for 2006.

Natural Science

Oregon 4-H Forestry Field Day Event And State 4-H Forestry Contest Guide is available on line on the State 4-H office website under Printed Materials. (click here for link) The 2006 event will be September 30 at the Oregon 4-H Center. It will be a one day event. Registration forms will be available on the State 4-H Office website.

The guide is intended for the use of 4-H members, club leaders and event coordinators in preparing for, and participating in, Oregon's 4-H Forestry Field Day Event and State 4-H Forestry Contest.

Participants in the Field Day may be Junior, Intermediate or Senior 4-H members. The Field Day is provided as an opportunity to learn and practice forestry skills. Leaders and parents are encouraged to attend the event with their youth.

Participants in the contest may be Junior, Intermediate or Senior 4-H members. Only Senior members scores will be considered for selection for participation in the Oregon 4-H Forestry State Team. The top four individual Senior contest participants will be selected to train for, and attend, the National 4-H Forestry Invitational in West Virginia in 2007.

Older Youth

Know Your Stat Government 2006 Legislative Conference registration forms, including scholarship applications are available online at the State 4-H website. All forms and schedules needed to register are at the site including a slide show introduction presentation outlining this year's mock legislative conference. Aside from the mock legislative hearing, youth will also attend a play at Oregon State University and county groups will have a night out to themselves in Salem with a variety of restaurant and entertainment options. If you are a youth in 9-12 grades, and are interested in learning more about the state government, plan to attend KYSG 2006 in Salem! Please register through your county 4-H office.

Recognition

Congratulations to Lynette Black who recently received a Wilcox Scholarship to help fund her work towards her master's degree.

The deadline for applications for State 4-H Scholarships, State Fair 4-H Scholarships, National Congress and State Level Awards are due to the State 4-H Office no later than March 1st, 2006.

This year we have 19 scholarships worth a total of $16,250 available to high school seniors who have been active in 4-H.

The 4-H website has the most current information regarding scholarship details, National Congress and State level award eligibility, applications, County nomination forms and the submission process. You can locate that information at recognition and scholarship pages on the State 4-H Website.

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Shooting Sports

Please work with your volunteers to assure that they submit their registration form payment by the March 6 deadline. If you have sent them a registration form please follow up with them. Due to amount of materials that must be printed and ordered from both in and out of state it is important that this deadline be met by all. The registration form is available on the State 4-H Office website homepage. Currently, we will not plan to hold another workshop before Spring of 2007.

State Fair

Come make a difference with the events at 4-H State Fair 2006. Theme and plans are still in the making, but now is the time to encourage leaders and teens at county Home Ec, Horticulture/Floral, and Expressive Arts Leaders' meetings to get involved with State Fair this year.

The process for becoming a chair, co-chair, clerk and teen staff member is the same for all. Application forms are available on the State 4-H website under "State Fair", "Printed Materials" or check with the Extension Office. Return the completed application form to Mona Easley and then as the plans for 2006 State Fair are being made, these people will be considered in that plan and the volunteers will be notified of their position.

Clerks are needed on Tuesday, August 22 on Judging Day. Chairs and co-chairs are needed on August 22, 23 and 24 to receive exhibits from the counties, judge and display exhibits at fair. Everyone is needed Monday evening at 10:00 pm and Tuesday, September 5 for taking down exhibits and sending them back to the counties.

Clerking is a good entry point for learning how the State Fair process works and allows leaders to learn directly from experienced judges while they assist the judges when they are working with the exhibits.

Chair and co-chair positions are designed for volunteer leaders who have had experience at county fair as a chair/superintendent and want to have the experience for their club to work as a team in one of the exhibit areas that they are familiar with at State Fair. Teens are often chairs and co-chairs at State Fair. Excellent examples of these teen teams have come from Tillamook, Clackamas, Lane and Union Counties who have worked together as a team to coordinate an area like Clothing, Fiber Arts, Foods or Fashion Revue.

Teen Staff members are needed August 22, 23 and 24, but also throughout fair to assist the State Fair staff with events/contests that take place during the fair. Teen Staff may apply for one or more days, depending on their schedule. This gives them a great state leadership experience. We ask that they do not try to participate in contests and try to volunteer as Teen Staff on he same day. They are too involved with the contests and preparation to also focus on the work to be done in the Exhibit Building.

As you meet with leaders and teens in the coming months please encourage them to add this dimension to their 4-H experience. They often become so involved they later want to represent their district on the State Fair Board of Trustees or become a permanently involved volunteer at State Fair.

Many calls come to the State Office about dates for the coming State Fair so families may make vacation plans to attend events and contests.

Volunteer Development

National Volunteer Week
April 23-29 2006

Now is the time to submit Workshop Proposal Forms for the Oregon Leaders' Forum. All proposals need to be mailed to the State 4-H Office by January 15. We need proposals for all project areas, overall youth development, leadership and other subjects that will help volunteer leaders in their teaching role.

The Forum will be hosted by Wallow County 4-H Leaders and the Oregon Leaders' Association in Enterprise. The Forum will have workshops, tours, displays, and offer time to network with other 4-H volunteer leaders. For more information go to:

Eight older youth (grades 10-12 when they serve) are needed to serve a one-year term on the Oregon 4-H Leaders Association Executive Council. All counties are encouraged to make nominations. Youth members will serve at two meetings a year beginning in the fall (first meeting) and spring of the next year (second meeting). To nominate a teen, the attached application form needs to be completed and submitted to the State 4-H Office before March 1, 2005. Youth on the current Council may be nominated for another term, if still in high school and active in 4-H during the year of service.

The Oregon 4-H Leaders Association is seeking nominations for Executive Council members from the following districts:

District I: Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook, Clackamas, Washington counties: two members are needed

District II: Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Benton, Lane, Lincoln, Linn counties: one member is needed

District III: Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Joesphine counties: two members are needed

District V: Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson (Includes Warm Springs), Klamath, Lake counties: two members are needed

District VI: Baker, Union, Wallowa, Harney, Grant, Malheur counties: one member is needed

These are three-year terms that will start in the fall of 2005. To nominate an individual, please complete the attached application form and send it to the State 4-H Office before March 1, 2006.

The 2007 Western Region 4-H Forum Workshop Committee is seeking your proposals for workshops during the 2007 Western Region 4-H Forum (January 11-15, 2007). Workshops are requested for each of the four dynamic program tracks (Belonging, Generosity, Independence, and Mastery) modeled after the 4-H Essential Elements Workshops should focus on one of the following themes:

1) Belonging--Connection Youth and Adults
2) Generosity--Youth and Adults Making a Difference
3) Independence--Training Youth and Adults to be Successful Leaders in their Communities
4) Mastery--Engaging Youth and Adults in Experiencing Success

Workshop Proposals are Due by April 30, 2006. We look forward to receiving your proposal forms. If you have any questions, please contact:

Teresa Noon
Program Coordinator, Extension Programs
University of Arizona
Forbes 301, P.O. Box 210036
Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
Phone: 520-621-7205
Fax: 520-621-1314
Email: nteresa@cals.arizona.edu

WORLD CITIZENSHIP

Vahagn Azaryan, Oregon's FLEX student from Armenia, has been selected to participate in the following national opportunity:
Civic Education Workshop-includes a week in Washington, D.C.
Vahagn is being hosted by the Dennis and Nellie Oehler family in Corvallis (Benton County). He is a student at Corvallis High School.

We are beginning to recruit host families for the four FLEX delegates that will be in Oregon for the 2006-07 school year. These students are from the NIS countries (former Soviet Union) and are ages 16-18. They usually have very good English skills. This is a scholarship program and the students go through a very selective process. Families do not have to have children the same age to host (nor do they even have to have children). If you know of interested families or would like more information, please let us know.

Oregon 4-H Newsletter

For FEBRUARY 2006

Greeting from the State Leader

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Calendar

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4-H Afterschool

Recruiting and Retaining Afterschool Students click here for more information

Grant possibilities click here for more information

back to the index

Ag in the Classroom

February 2006 Calendar Picture

Animal Science

Camp

Expressive Arts

Home Economics

Horticulture

Natural Science

Older Youth

Recognition

back to the index

Shooting Sports

State Fair

Volunteer Development

National Volunteer Week
April 23-29 2006

WORLD CITIZENSHIP

Oregon 4-H Newsletter

For FEBRUARY 2006

Greeting from the State Leader

back to the index

Calendar

back to the index

4-H Afterschool

Recruiting and Retaining Afterschool Students click here for more information

Grant possibilities click here for more information

back to the index

Ag in the Classroom

February 2006 Calendar Picture

Animal Science

Camp

Expressive Arts

Home Economics

Horticulture

Natural Science

Older Youth

Recognition

back to the index

Shooting Sports

State Fair

Volunteer Development

National Volunteer Week April 23-29 2006

WORLD CITIZENSHIP

National Volunteer Week
April 23-29 2006