Robeson County 4-H

...and bring us home safe and sound but not after a little fun. We started the day with packing and breakfast, (a breakfast sandwich to fill our stomachs) before we hit the road. After packing up, cleaning cabins, and making sure we had all our stuff, we took everything to our county designated place and went to the Rec. Hall for our awards ceremony . Each camper received an award from their counselors based on their work during the week. There were the ever popular super camper awards, triple A (all around awesome), most polite, thousand questions in a minute, and super trooper awards as well as some that were more personalized to the camper's personality. Everyone walked away with some designation from the people they spent the last week with. Who looked up to them and cared for them as we had a blast. After the awards it was time to sit back and enjoy memories of the week at camp. Thanks to the help of the camp staff and contributions from the four 4-H agents we had quite a sli...

This week has flown by as have some of our campers. Today was no different as we dove into our activities for the last time. Our youth took to the archery range, campfire pit, climbed on a horse and got into canoes to practice the skills they learned this week. Sun and Earth groups even took to the high ropes to enjoy flying through the air, and challenging their own fears. On the archery range our youth were kick on the draw as they remembered range rules and how to fire their bows. They did an awesome job hitting the targets. Next door to the archery range was a campfire pit where the youth practiced their story telling skills while waiting their turn on the archery range. Walking by the lake you couldn't help but notice our youth in the canoes and listen to their communication skills. I would like to say they were saying things like what a wonderful experience they were having instead it was comments such as, "figure out backwards now before we hit the bank," and, ...

It seems like around every corner, twist, and curve there are smiling faces, laughing, and just downright fun going on. Our Trekkers, our oldest campers, left the sight for their trip. As part of this the canoe in a river, repel off of real cliffs, and sleep out cooking their dinner over a camp fire. When they return tomorrow they will be tired, muddy and laughing at each other recounting all the fun their overnight adventure in detail. Our Adventurers travelled into the woods to work on GPS, survival skills and firebuilding. What a day they had. The rest of us had normal camp activities today , horseback riding, archery, and for the youngest ones a trip back in time. No we do not have a time machine but they did enjoy the pioneer cabin. There the youth learned about the tools they used in the pioneer days, made their own corn bread (which was rather tasty if I do say so myself), and even made their own candles. It is a really neat step back in time that they all get to experience i...

Up, up and away....to hug a tree? A great many Trekkers, Adventurers and Leaders in Training (L.I.T.) were excited about the ability to fly through the air and the many opportunities they had to test out their new wings Tuesday Morning. It all started on the ropes course . There the youth found several obstacles that challenged their problem solving and decision making skills while definitely putting them outside their comfort zone. When we first got there we found some of our youth on our favorite High Ropes obstacle, the zip line. Basically the youth, with the help of a ladder and metal rungs in the tree, climb a tree to a platform. There they switch safety rope, climb over a branch and then get hooked to a system that lets them sly through the air, down a hill to another platform. The youth have on safety harnesses, helmets, and are attached to safety ropes to make this adventure as safe as possible. We caught a couple of our youth having the time of their lives, and others doing a ...

What a day! We started off fairly early with a wonderful hot breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits, and bacon. Of course there was also stuff like cereal and fresh fruit available to us as well. After our breakfast we made sure our cabins were clean and ready for inspection before moving on to our first of many activities. I guess what is important to understand on the first day, is that we are all broken into groups based on our ages. There are the Head, Heart, Hands and Health groups as well as the Earth, Sun, Adventurers, and Trekkers groups. Each age group does different things based on their age, for example the Trekkers will go off site for almost two full days and a night camping out, canoeing in a river, repealing. They will cook their dinner over a campfire and other really cool stuff. The young groups such as the Head, Heart, Hands and Health groups do activities such as Arts and crafts, archery, making ice cream, visiting the Heritage center and other similar activities. Alt...

It is day one at Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Educational Center. Robeson County brought 70 youth as part of our summer camping program and boy oh boy are they excited to be here. Mind you we pulled out of our parking lot at the O. P.Owens Agriculture Center at 9:45 this morning and with and made it to camp about 2:30 this afternoon. There were loud cheers from our campers as we announced on each bus welcome to camp. As soon as our campers got off the bus there was a whirlwind of activity. Everyone had to unload their stuff from the buses and take it to preassigned areas. Then they checked in at the recreation hall before being given their cabin assignments. Then it was off to the cabins to unpack, meet cabin mates and settle in. Of course that didn't last long before the counselors had the groups out at the ball field and other areas playing games. Of course, being 4-H we had to get some food involved. Dinner was served on the ball field as we enjoyed hot dogs, baked beans, chips and fres...

This year North Carolina 4-H Congress ended a day early . However a day early did not mean less things to do. This year they were more enterprising than ever. As part of Thursday's events the youth took part in a job fair held at the McKimmon Center. Different N. C. State department were on hand to answer questions and recruit perspective students. After touring the booths everyone came together in the main meeting room for a panel discussion. The youth asked questions such as, "What type of S.A.T. scores do you need to get into N.C. State?" and, "What kind of students are you looking for?" After asking a multitude of questions and identifying areas that they think they might need improvement in to get into college it was time to turn our attention to food. Lunch was a spectacular event involving chicken, lasagna and all sorts of sides. It was the perfect prelude to our digital slide show highlighting the top Congress events. Then Reba Green Holly, County Extens...

Wednesday at North Carolina 4-H Congress started with an amazing and incredible project. Each year on Wednesday the Congress delegates take part in a community service project. It can be anything from cleaning off a gigantic kangaroo for UNC-TV or pulling ivy at the arboretum or cleaning up and organizing a food pantry. This year almost all the counties present took part in something special. To go along with our "Hungry to Help" theme the group travelled to Dorton Arena where they found about 50 palettes holding ginormous boxes filled with dried pasta. The youth gowned up with aprons, gloved up, and even put on hair nets to start packaging up the pasta into individual bags, filling empty boxes. When they got done they had processed 37,990 pounds of pasta or almost 32,000 meals. What an incredible job they did. After the hands to service project the youth came back to the McKimmon Center for lunch. Waiting for them was a small bowl of rice and a small bottle of water. The p...

Day two of Congress is where the real competition is. Youth who place first or second at their respective District Activity Days have the opportunity to travel to Raleigh to speak their way into gold, silver, or bronze at the state level presentation day. The event which is held at Athens Drive High School each year brought the best of the best in North Carolina 4-H head to head to see who really is the best. Three of Robeson County's finest went on to compete here. Megan Hurst of the Horsin' Around 4-H Club, Alexius Jones and Chi Chi Hill both of the Inspirational Youth Leaders of Rex came prepared to show the world who the best of the best is. Alexus was up first in public speaking. In a tough category, with this being her first year, it is awe inspiring that she walked away with the silver medal. Following in her footsteps was Chi Chi Hill. Chi Chi was up against three other competitors in public speaking, the 9-10 year old age division. When it was all said and done Chi Chi...

North Carolina 4-H Congress is the biggest state 4-H event there is all year long. Youth from around the state come together on N.C. State University's Campus to work, learn and have fun. Already in our first day we are doing just that. We started the day by getting checked in and moved into our dorms. We traditionally stay in one of the three high rise towers on the main campus. Our Robeson County delegation is made up of 7 youth: Laquwanda Banks, Christopher Bullard, Christian McRae, Korina Pittman, Keheria Richardson, Ashley Sealey, and Kristen Sealey; one volunteer, Marilyn Merritt, and our 4-H Agent Shea Ann DeJarnette. It took a little time to lug everything from the van and the trailer up to our rooms but we finally made it in time to go get lunch. After lunch it was time for our meetings the youth in one room and the adults in another. During these meetings we are given a brief introduction to living on campus, the rules, and what is coming up. After the brief introduction ...

The third and fourth grade students at W. H. Knuckles summer program had no idea they were getting ready to bust a move when the 4-H Agent walked into their classroom on Wednesday. Some of them said they thought we were going to play with germs, others hoped we would do something scientific, but when the music started they were excited to try our new experiment. Just like the sixth graders the third and fourth graders at W. H. Knuckles talked about the kid of stress they deal with. They mentioned things like siblings and parents who get angry (although they admitted that they often instigate the anger). After talking about stress and what causes it, and what it can do to you they were ready to have a little scientific fun. Our youth numbered their page from one to twelve before we started kicking up the tunes. The songs that got the best reactions may have been a surprise to many adults, "Lean on Me", "Amazing Grace", and Beyonce's "Single Ladies" got ...

On our second evening at UNCP with the Upward bound participants we got down right rude. Actually we kicked the evening off with the top ten rude behaviors. On the list were things like burping at the table, picking your teeth and believe it or not, the number one rude behavior, talking on your cell phone at the table. That got everyone's attention. Then we moved forward to table settings. The participants were all at small tables (four to a table) and we passed out our fancy 70's xeroxed china and silverware. Then it was up to our youth to try to make it all work. Although there were some comments to the effect of, "I would never use this much silverware," and, " who has this many dishes at one meal," they worked really hard to get it all in order. As we shared some tips with them (things like fork which has four letters in the word goes on the left which also has four letters while knife and spoon have five letters each and go on the right which also is ma...

Do our youth face stress? If you ask the group of sixth graders at Carroll Middle School on Tuesday you would find out that they do. The youth told us that things like tests, EOG's, and social issues can be stressful for them. They shared with us great ways for stress relief such as bubble baths, playing sports, and sleeping. But an hour later they had a new twist on an old tune to help as well. When asked who liked to listen to music all of them raised their hands. Their music tastes ran the gambit from classical to R&B. Each sharing their individual favorites which help them to identify who they are. The youth also shared that they like to listen to music when they study and before going to bed at night, among the many other times in the day that they tune in. Working with an activity from the "Health Rocks" curriculum we talked about using music as stress relief. The youth numbered a sheet of paper from one to ten. They laid their heads down on their desks and list...

That is one of many phrases students as part of UNCP's Upward bound program practiced when 4-H Etiquette class arrived on Monday evening. We were honored to be asked to come replicate our 4-H Etiquette Day Camp with these rising High School Junior and Seniors. However, with 40 youth we changed how we approached the topic not what we talked about. Christy Strickland, Family Consumer Sciences Agent and Shea Ann DeJarnette tackled the topic that most youth think is not necessary, or that they know all about. We started the evening with a fun interactive power point presentation. Including video and photos illustrating proper and improper behavior. At times we stopped and practiced what we learned with each person having an opportunity to practice their handshakes, introducing themselves, and the art of conversation. We talked about cell phone and social networking etiquette and tried to impress the importance of their actions and possible consequences on the Internet. After going over...

To be part of the state 4-H horse show you don't have to have a horse, or even ride. You can compete with hammer and nails, paint, pen, pencil, or even a camera and come home with state honors. This year Robeson County was on the map with eight entries for the state 4-H Horse Expressive Arts Contest. Members of both the Horsin' Around 4-H Club and the St. Paul's 4-H Pony Club entered multiple and fantastic entries. In one of the toughest competitions, photography we had the most entries with six incredible photographs. Receiving medals in the cloverbud division were Christian Tice of the St. Paul's 4-H Pony Club and Dakota Strickland of the Horsin' Around 4-H Horse Club. In the junior division Megan Butler and Brianna Cryer of the St. Paul's 4-H Pony club and Megan Hurst of the Horsin' Around 4-H Club offered fantastic entries. Brianna Cryer's entry was entitled, "New Hat" since the horse is wearing her then new horse club hat which is now fill...

The members of the "Dirty Dozen" Shooting sports club took aim on Saturday working with a new member and learning new ways to focus their skills for possible future competition. It was fortunately cool and overcast as the members took to the range to practice shooting in a standing stance. As the day got hotter so did their aim. So their club leader changed their targets to help them figure out how to better determine where they are shooting to see if they can create tighter groupings. During breaks the club members talked about upcoming projects and even a possible club field trip. Then they hit the shooting lines and worked on perfecting their shots. Their club leader hopes that with practice the group will be ready to create a competition shooting team and compete against other 4-H shooting sports clubs in near by counties. The next club meeting will be in August. For more information about this club please contact the 4-H office at (910) 671-3276.

It was another first today. A fabulous first today. One that we have come close to in the past but today, thanks to a sister team, put Robeson County on the map. Caylee, age 11, and Taylor, age 9, Holden of the St. Paul's 4-H Pony Club travelled to Raleigh with on thing on their agenda, competing at the 4-H State Horse Show in Presentations. Now if you are wondering, this is not a new riding category. It is the same demonstration speech that most of our youth will give during 4-H Congress in a couple of weeks. The difference is all horse public speaking and presentation categories on the state level are given two weeks earlier as part of the 4-H state horse show. The Holden sisters were one of two team presenters and one of 21 presentations from around the state. There were also 12 public speakers from around the state competing at the same time. The girls got up very early to hit the road by 6:30 a.m. Travelling with them were their dad, Perry Holden, club leader Libby Burney, ou...