Robeson County 4-H

It is an annual event that our 4-H members look forward to each year, District Activity Day. This is a day where the best of the best of Robeson County youth who have competed in Public Speaking, Presentations, and Entertains can compete against the best of the best from others in our 15 county district. This year the event was held in Biscoe and East Montgomery High School. We had 9 youth who competed to see who would be the best in the district. All did a fantastic job competing against other youth in their age divisions. Maurice Williams and Rachel Jhala represented our county in 4-H Entertains. Reece, who is part of the Lightening Electric Club and the "Dirty Rascals" Junior Master Gardener Club sang for the audience while Rachel, who is a member of the Horsin' Around 4-H Club and the "Dirty Rascals" Junior Master Gardener Club, performed a dance native to her homeland of India. We had three youth representing Robeson County in Public Speaking. Camry Ocean,...

Have you ever had a problem finding a qualified babysitter? One that had training is responsible, and is prepared for fun and emergencies? Do not worry any longer, the solution is here. This week a dozen youth have been trained and certified by our Robeson County 4-H program as babysitters. Christy Strickland and Janice Fields, Family Consumer Science Extension Agents joined forces with 4-H to implement the 4-H/Army Babysitting Curriculum. Each child recieved a notebook with the guidebook, worksheets, and receipes from the training. The three day training started on Monday going over saftey tips, learning how to cook healthy, quick snacks and meals, and talking about the joys and lessons of babysitting. Tuesday we spent most of the day learning and being certified in CPR. The youth worked hard to obtain their adult, child, and infant certification from the Red Cross. They said that was one of their favorite parts of the three days and they were very proud of this awesome accomplishmen...

It is everyone's favorite day in 4-H Junior Day Camp, Make and Take Day or otherwise known as Arts and Crafts Day. There is not a moment to waste as we have projects piled up for them to complete and take home, but first there is a little science experiment that we needed to finish up. The bacteria that we started growing on Monday was visible and really gross. Needless to say the cultures we took from the sink drain, water fountain and front door handle were much grosser than anything we grew from our bodies. None the less they were worthy of a view under a microscope. Five at a time Kerri Roach, our Horticulture Extension Agent, put their samples under the microscope and compared them to molds and viruses but fortunately did not find a match to anything nasty. While that was going on others decorated mugs to take home with their own designs. Some sports related, others with flowers and rainbows. Each mug uniquely personal and beautiful. Then it was time for Mr. Bobby. Bobby Roge...

"Miss Shea, Miss Shea this is so cool! Thank you!" From the time we walked into t he Golden Knights Museum at Fort Bragg we heard gasps, wows, thank yous and enjoyed the wide eyes of our youth as they learned about this elite team that flies through the air. Joel Rowley, a retired Golden Knight, and now a civilian working with the group as their Visual Information Specialist, was our host for this incredibly informative morning event. The youth also had the opportunity to meet and talk with Captain Michael Funderburk who is with the Operations section of the Golden Knights. The youth learned about the 50 year history of the Golden Knights, watched movies showing their different parachute teams, learned about the dangers and training involved, and asked some really cool questions about what they do. Rowley was even kind enough to randomly pick one youth from the audience and dress him in all the gear they wear and showed them how they deploy a parachute and all the saf...

It was a day of games and cooking for our 4-H Junior Day campers today, and I must say they were adventurous and full today . To kick the day off on the right foot we learned about stomach digestion completing a hands on science experiment with a balloon that simulated the digestion process. It was smelly, nasty, and really cool. It didn't take but a second for them to get their appetites back and after our snack we hit the kitchen and took a food quiz to try to get a handle on how many calories we are supposed to have a day. In the kitchen Janice Fields worked with the youth making whole grain breads, whole grain pretzels and fruit salsa. They also played serving size charades and learned that an entire bottle of whip cream is not just one serving. After lunch we had a special visitor, Ms. Shelly who told us all about the summer library program and made lots of great craft projects. We used tile grout to decorate photo frames, and got creative with brush art. After tr...

In case you haven't heard North Carolina 4-H is celebrating its centennial. In that spirit we thought our 4-H Junior Day Campers should celebrate by learning about what life was like 100 years ago. To go along with that movement we took a trip to the North Carolina Museum of History to see what we could learn. The big hit at this museum was the "Knights of the Black Flag" exhibit which included interactive video experiences, a pirate ship, and costumes to give the real pirate feeling. After a brief run through sports history we travelled across the street to the North Carolina Museum of Natural History for lunch and an afternoon tour. Working our way from the top down we saw butterflies, snakes, dead animals and skeletons, as well as live animals and plants. The sweetest part of the tour, "Chocolate, the Exhibition". we learned about the fruit from which chocolate starts from and then how it becomes that sweet treat that we often crave (they even showed us why w...

What a better idea than to shake up the world then on the first day of our 4-H summer fun day camp . Our youth walked in to shake off school and took on the world in one broad stroke. Our campers, ages 9-13, started the day by beginning a week long science experiment. Everyone collected bacteria from their bodies and cultured it in a petry dish. We checked several times during the day but don't see any signs of growth yet. Maybe tomorrow. After starting our science experiment we talked about what makes a good leader. The youth worked together to draw a life size leader and each proved that what a person looks like does not make them a leader, it is the qualities they posses. After a few more games we had lunch and then worked on changing the world. The campers identified what they would like to change in the world (topics ranged from getting rid of the EOG to changing how taxes are charged, and finding alternative forms of energy for this country to use). We worked...

Summer means many things for many people. For youth it means time to rest from school and play until they can't take it anymore. For families it often means more family time and family vacations. For those of us in 4-H it means hold on because the roller coaster ride has just begun! In 4-H, Summer means animal science, summer fun day camps. electric congress, congress, camp, and anything else we can squeeze into a few months to give youth the opportunity to stay busy and have fun. Part of that is allowing them to have the responsibility to care for animals, and as they get out of school we are delivering that privilege to them, most recently we made a whole lot of noise about it. That's because it was time to give out the pigs. We travelled to Billy Oxendine and Larry Chavis's farm to hand out a few oinkers. As you can see the youth were please with the 80 pound pigs that they will raise to reach up to 280 pounds by October. The next time we will see the cute little ...

It is that time of year again. Time for children to get excited about summer, and start their animal science projects that will offer them learning right up into the next school year. As always we started things with the smallest animal we give out each year...our laying hens. The birds are just a few days old when they go home and adorable, but come fair time they will be much bigger and just about ready to lay fresh eggs. The neat thing about raising poultry as part of the animal science projects is it gives youth an opportunity to learn about record keeping, show techniques, and allows them to gain responsibility for taking care of other living creatures. Also many youth like to create their own business selling the fresh eggs they get from their laying hens. Stay tuned as we get ready to give out more animals this summer, up next are the pigs. Make sure to tune in because it will be something to squeal about.