Robeson County 4-H

Can you hear them? The new cheeping going on around the county. As you get closer to second and third grade classrooms it is getting even louder. That's right we are at the end of round one of Embryology and the eggs are hatching. Embryology is a 4-H curriculum that is implemented in the second and third grades as part of the standard course of study. What a better way to study life cycles? On Wednesday we traveled to Union Chapel where we actually saw one chick hatch, another class had one pecking through, and yet another classroom had two that had been born with several more trying to get out. J.C. Hargrave e-mailed us Wednesday afternoon and said they expected several to be making their appearance today. At Knuckles we have heard there is a total of nine new chicks in the world with two more expecting to make an appearance today. Can you say WOO Hoo? To support the teachers in this endeavor we also have an incubator at our office. Our eggs started hatching on Tuesday. We had our...

Biggs Park Mall was full of Easter spirit, shoppers, and parents looking for a great summer experience for their children. More than 20 agencies set up shop in the mall as part of the annual Summer Camp Expo. There parents and youth could learn about the different opportunities from outdoor overnight camps to educational tutoring options. Truman the dragon even walked through waving and hugging as he made his way through the mall and lead parents and kids by the Summer Camp tables. Robeson County 4-H took the opportunity to advertise their Summer Fun day Camp programs and the week long overnight camping opportunity. We talked with more than 100 people and even ran out of information on site but will be sending it out to those who are interested. If you would like more information on what is going on in 4-H this summer you can e-mail Shea Ann DeJarnette, 4-H Extension Agent at Shea_Ann_DeJarnette@ncsu.edu or call the 4-H office at (910) 671-3276. We even had the opportuni...

Operation Military Kids (OMK) is a national partnership between the U. S. Army and other youth partners such as 4-H. In North Carolina OMK is a major initiative with our state 4-H program and is headed by J. Scott Enroughty. This weekend Harnett County 4-H hosted an OMK event with a teen lock in at the Harnett County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Office . About 20 teens from Harnett, Cumberland and Scotland counties took part in the event. The evening started with cake decorating. The youth had three colors to choose from and decorates their cakes as part of a team exercise. The outcome was incredible. Cakes with messages, artistically defined with fireworks and stars, and showing a positively incredible team efforts. At the end of the activity the teens got prizes for most creative, best leadership and best team effort. Best of all they got to sample their work, and I saw how tasty it was. After that our very own Robeson County 4-H Extension Agent, Shea Ann DeJar...

The monthly meeting for the "Dirty Rascals" Junior Master gardener 4-H club was anything but dirty this month. The group started their meeting Thursday with their traditional pledges, and then checked out the latest piece of equipment they helped purchase for the extension office, a three piece AeroGarden set. The AeroGarden is actually a donation from the Robeson County Master Gardener Association and the "Dirty Rascals" Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club. The two groups paid for and donated the equipment (and 4-H volunteer and Master Gardener Larry Russ built and donated a stand for the equipment) to be used for the "Dirty Rascals" club members to raise their seedlings for the annual plant sale, and for both groups as well as the Robeson County Extension Center staff to use for education. When the youth are not using the equipment to start seedlings Janice Fields, will grow herbs and vegetables in the AeroGardens to use as part of her healthy eating a...

It's getting warm in Robeson County. Especially at schools like Pembroke Elementary, Union Chapel, Rosenwald, Green Grove, W.H. Knuckles, Janie C Hargrave, Rex-Rennert and Oxendine Elementary Schools. It's warm because the incubators are heated up (to 100 degrees) water is in them, it is getting humid in there and is a perfect place for our guests. Each classroom that is signed up for the 4-H Embryology program received 15 chick eggs and they are all in place ready for the hatch. Each classroom has a slew of hands on activities to learn about the life cycle process and help each student hone their critical thinking, decision making and responsibility skills. We will be checking in with the teachers and classrooms and can't wait to see the progress. Stay tuned for updates right here at our 4-H blog or you can sign up to follow us on Twitter.

In case you can't guess by the title it is time for our annual 4-H embryology project. Embryology is where we offer training on our second grade curriculum for teachers and supply them incubators and eggs to put in their classrooms. As the students turn the eggs, watch the temperature, and have the opportunity to see them hatch they gain knowledge about life cycles that will stay with them for life. We will be offering two sessions of embryology this year for teachers. The first started on Monday March 8 as teachers from Union Chapel, Pembroke, Rosenwald, Rex-Rennert, Oxendine, Janie Hargrave and W. H. Knuckles elementary schools picked up their incubators. First time teachers and those looking for a refresher of the information attended a training on Monday afternoon as well. the incubators should all be plugged in and warming up getting ready for the eggs to arrive. Eggs will be arriving on Wednesday, March 10 and should start hatching the week of March 29th. Stay tuned fo...

Did you by chance go by the Rumba on the Lumber for an exciting chili cook off? Maybe you went out to enjoy the run? Or maybe, just maybe, you went out to check out the awesome 4-H talent performing at the Carolina Civic Center ? It was a star-studded action packed afternoon of talent and we can't help but be impressed with how our annual 4-H Talent Showcase turned out. We started the fantastic event with our 5-8 year olds taking center stage. This age group is known as cloverbuds in 4-H terminology and this is a none competitive division where each child is recognized for their accomplishments. We kicked things off with a group praise dance, the group made up of members of Robeson County's Spiritual generations club were Nadia Bennett, Mya Mitchell, Jada Coward, Kristen Smith and Jamal Bennett. Patrick McBride from Voices in Praise 4-H Club recited a poem (with really good illustrations) and Christian Tice with the St. Paul's Pony club treated us to a musical p...

Tackling the really tough topics is how we rounded out our sixth "Strengthening Families" program this week . In our separate sessions youth and parents learned how to work on topics such as drugs, drinking, cheating, and stealing. In the parents session our adults learned about how to help protect their youth against drug and alcohol abuse. They worked with Christy Strickland, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent to learn about ways to interact effectively with the youth's school and how to properly monitor their children and ask the important questions that need to be asked and answered. In the youth session our children finished up learning and practicing the tools it takes to avoid peer pressure. They learned about walking away from the situation and using the person's name and asking them to listen, to help calmly diffuse the situation and give them a way out. They also learned about the qualities they want in a good friend, one who will not get them...

Week five for our "Strengthening Families" has us learning all types of signs. Our youth learned about the signs of peer pressure while the parents learned about signs youth give them and what they are communicating. After a fabulous lasagna dinner we split up into our parent and youth sessions. The parents learned about listening for feelings. For example when your child is complaining about doing the dishes, are they just complaining or are the trying to let you know how they feel? Often times youth have a difficult time expressing their feelings. their complaints may be a way of them to express frustration. Often how parents handle complaining and frustration are two different tactics and it is important for them to know the difference between the two. The listening exercises will give them the opportunity to better listen to their youth and validate their feelings making communication between the two easier. The youth learned about the effects and causes of peer pr...