Campus County Connection

Volume XXV  Edition II

February 2008

 

2008 4-H Programs Off to a Great Start
Many of your 4-H county and community clubs are up and running while others are in “full recruitment swing.” I thought it might be prudent to do a quick reminder of the Essential Elements of effective 4-H programs and activities at this time that also serves as a reminder of the reasons families and young people benefit from an affiliation with us.

ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

Operation: Military Kids
Indiana OMK Web Site Launched!
With many thanks to Craig Personett and Tyler Cotterman, the Indiana Operation: Military Kids Web site has recently been launched! Visit http://www.four-h.purdue.edu/omk/ to find resources and events related to Indiana OMK. Included on this site are some of the more frequently-requested files such as Hero Pack information, procedures for securing funding for County-Sponsored OMK Events, and local contact information.  If there are things that you’d like to see included that are not currently on this site, please let us know!

Supporting Children of Military Families
The Indiana Operation: Military Kids team will be hosting a one-day training, “Supporting Children of Military Families,” on Thursday, March 13, 2008, from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (ET) The training will be held at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds in Noblesville.

The training will help equip community members to work effectively with children of military families. Topics for the program will include: understanding the military; deployment cycle; strengths, stressors, and methods to support military children; methods to identify and connect with military children; community resources available; and a town hall interview with military experts.

The target audience for this program are community teams of at least 6 members each, consisting of Extension Educators, school personnel (administrators, counselors, nurses), and other community members who are interested in supporting these children. By the end of the training, county teams will have developed a plan of action that will better enable them to support the military children in their communities.

Extension Educators had the opportunity to enroll in this course through the Staff Development Web site early last summer. Those who did not enroll at that time may still do so through their District Director’s office. Lunch and the registration fee to attend the training will be provided through the OMK grant. The participants’ only expense will be transportation.

An agenda, registration form, and cover letter for this training are available from the links below. Please feel free to distribute these to members of your community and encourage them to submit their registration. We are asking for all registrations to be submitted by Friday, February 29, 2008.
Download agenda
Download registration form
Download cover letter

Please contact us if you have any questions!

Indiana National Guard Family Assistance Centers
A flyer describing the Indiana Family Assistance Centers (FAC’s), which have been established through the National Guard Family Programs Office is available here. The primary purpose of a FAC is to inform and emotionally support families so service members can perform their mission. There are now 14 individuals located around the State of Indiana to provide this support.

As you have the opportunity to work with military families in your communities, the individuals listed on this flyer would be appropriate to contact for ways that you can best support the children and their families.

OMK County-Sponsored Events
The 2007-2008 OMK grant includes funding for County-Sponsored Events again this year. Up to $500 per event may be requested to support local OMK programming that relates to the OMK mission of providing support to military children. The most recent information letter and funding application for your use is available here. We look forward to expending all of our funds allocated to county events this year!

- Judy Hauser and Steve McKinley

International 4-H
Meiji Gakuin Homestay
In 2008, international 4-H will again offer its long-time successful homestay program with Meiji Gakuin High School of Tokyo, Japan. We are excited that we now have full color brochures for you to provide to interested families, youth, or your local school. Contact Linda Hines or myself, and we'll be happy to send you as many as you need!

For this year's program we have 22 youth participants plus chaperones visiting in the delegation. Dates are July 23-August 16, 2008, and the incoming youth will be in age range of 15-18 years of age. Applications are open to any 4-H family with youth in the home matching the participant youth. We will accept applications until April 15, 2008, but now's the time we need to be finding great families. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

National Schools Conference on International Youth Exchange
As a result of the new internationally focused efforts of the Indiana Department of Education, the first ever national conference on international high school exchange is going to be on February 28-29 … right in our backyard of Indianapolis. The focus audience will be teachers and administrators working to encourage international youth exchange, and international education in their schools. Indiana international 4-H programs will be represented with an exhibit.   

- Lee Stanish

State Fair Youth Leadership Conference
Members of the State Fair Youth Leadership Conference Youth Staff are also willing to visit your counties to promote this conference which will be held August 3-9 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Please contact me if you would like to have a representative visit your group. 

- Steve McKinley

4-H Shooting Sports Education

• Hunting Discipline – The Hunting track is highly recommended. It is useful for younger 4-H members, especially if your county does not allow the shooting disciplines the first year of 4-H. It introduces 4-H members to the outdoors and the wildlife that we enjoy in Indiana. Hunting does not need to be the focus of this training and can include “hunting” with a camera. The Hunting discipline is particularly suited for older youth to work with younger members and may help retain your older 4-H shooting sports members.
• Hunter Education – The IDNR Hunter Education course can be recommended to 4-H Shooting Sports members but it may not be required for participation in the 4-H Shooting Sports Education program. Note that the test given at the end of this course was written at a 5^th grade level so it may be difficult for many 3^rd and 4^th graders. See the 4-H Shooting Sports instructor website, www.four-h.purdue.edu/shooting_sports/, for a document about required meetings and a suggested agenda for a required safety meeting (optional for shooting sports).

- Natalie Carroll

Remember – Earth Day: Tuesday, April 22, 2008

2008 State Fair Horse and Pony Show Reminder
Reminder – For the 2008 State Fair Horse and Pony Show, exhibitors will be required to present the yellow copy of their enrollment form when they check-in. They will not receive a stall assignment, or their number, without it. This is not a new policy, but we will begin enforcing it more closely. Please help get the word out to the potential exhibitors.

- Colleen Brady

“Mission: Leadership” - 77^th State 4-H Jr. Leader Conference
The 77^th State 4-H Junior Leader Conference will be held June 17-20, 2008 at the University of Indianapolis. Delegate registration will begin at noon, Tuesday, June 17^th with a departure prior to lunch on Friday, June 20^th.

The registration fee will be $150 per person and is due by May 15. Again this year all registrations may be completed via ED. Delegates should be Jr. Leaders who have completed grades 9-12.  Please help us to recruit participants for this excellent leadership development experience!

Members of the 2008 State 4-H Junior Leader Council will be meeting for their final planning weekend on February 29-March 1. Each of the planning weekends is sponsored by the Indiana  4-H Foundation. More details regarding the conference will follow the next planning weekend.

The 2008 Jr. Leader Council members (and their counties) are:

Michael Blankenberger, Vanderburgh	Austin Guoli, Parke
Dan Burnell, Hendricks	Whitney Hendrickson, Warrick
Jennifer Cox, Hendricks	Sarah Jordan, Wayne
Spencer Deig, Vanderburgh	Kelsey Pepmeier, Knox
Chris Denton, Decatur	Randi Potts, Porter
James Evens, Tippecanoe	Sarah Taylor, Hamilton
Sierra Gearhart, Porter	Brittany Titus, Hendricks
Chelsea Gohn, Fulton	Michael Wood, Warrick

Members of the Jr. Leader Council are willing to visit your county to help promote the conference to your Leaders and Jr. Leaders.  If you would like to schedule a visit, please contact me.  A promotional brochure for Jr. Leader Conference is posted on the conference Web site: http://www.four-h.purdue.edu/sjlc/

- Steve McKinley

2008 Indiana 4-H Youth Congress
Save the date! The 2008 Indiana 4-H Youth Congress will be held in Indianapolis on Saturday, October 11. More details will follow in the coming months.

- Steve McKinley

PROJECT CURRICULUM AND RESOURCES

Geology
The new Indiana 4-H Geology manuals have been delivered to MDC. Each Level 1 manual includes a full color bookmark of the common rocks that are featured in the manual (page 18). The bookmark can be found attached to the back cover (inside). They may also be purchased in packages of 25. The Helper’s Guide (with answers to all the questions and suggestions for activities) is available on-line (free) only. You can find it and order additional bookmarks at Purdue’s Ag Store, https://secure.agriculture.purdue.edu/store/. Enter “geology” in the search box. A 3^rd grade lesson plan, You Rock! available here uses this bookmark and can be used to introduce new members to the project. Natural Resource lesson plans, developed from 4-H curriculum, are available at:

www.four-h.purdue.edu/staff.home/natalie/Resources/Lesson%20Plans/LessonPlans,Activities.htm

- Natalie Carroll

VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENT

4-H Volunteer Vision
Download the The February “4-H Volunteer Vision” for use with your local volunteers.

- Steve McKinley

“VolunteerIN, 4-H Toolkit for Success” Training Series
A repeat of the Jan. 29 “VolunteerIN, 4-H Toolkit for Success” session will be held on Thursday, February 21, from 7:30-9 p.m. ET (6:30-8 p.m. CT).

The 2008 program includes portions of the following lessons: Experiential Learning Model, Skill-a-Thon, Mock Judging, Life Skill Development, and Goal Setting.

To enroll your IP unit for this program, visit: http://1144sms/ipevents/ and look for event #1246.  Be certain that you enroll your site prior to the deadline of Monday, February 18!

Each Extension Educator with 4-H Youth responsibilities should have received a VolunteerIN CD.  This CD contains files with the complete lesson plans for each of the Mastery lessons, including a detailed lesson plan, a PowerPoint with notes pages, a fact sheet to distribute to the volunteers, and a quiz (with a key). The CD also contains IRB-approved evaluation forms and procedures for the training series. You’ll also find a promotional flyer on the CD that you can use to promote the upcoming program to your volunteers.

Check with your area’s 4-H Volunteer Development Committee member for more information.

- Steve McKinley and Randy Brown

Tenured Volunteer Recognition
Each year we recognize those volunteers who have completed at least 20 years of service in the 4-H program (and each subsequent five-year anniversary…25, 30, 35, etc.). The 2008 recognition program will be held during 4-H Day at the Indiana State Fair on Saturday, August 9^th.

This year you will be able to submit your tenured volunteer names via ED. Richard Fox will hold an online training session on how to enroll these volunteers via ED on Tuesday, February 12, at 2 p.m. Richard will send a URL with directions for how to join the training.

Please complete this registration whether or not you have volunteers to be recognized.

Please double-check the spelling accuracy of your volunteers’ names so that we can recognize them correctly!

Please note that if you have volunteers who will be recognized for 50 or more years of service, we need a brief description of the work they have done to include in the program at the State Fair.  Thank you!

- Steve McKinley

4-H Volunteer Certificates
New 4-H Volunteer Certificates including Dr. Hibberd’s name have been posted to the State 4-H Web site. These certificates are protected, but allow you to type a date and your volunteers’ names onto the certificates, print them out, and distribute according to your county’s procedures.

The State 4-H Office will no longer provide printed copies of these certificates.

To find the certificates, go to the State 4-H Web site: http://www.four-h.purdue.edu/. Log in as an Extension Educator, then conduct a Download Search for: Volunteer, in the Award category. This search will produce a two-page list of 13 files that may be downloaded. These include recognition certificates for volunteers from 5-50 years (in five-year increments) in addition to certificates for Club Leader, Volunteer, and Volunteer Coordinator.

- Steve McKinley