Bringing Agriculture to Youth

  We often joke that Cooperative Extension is one of the best kept secrets.  No matter what we do to promote and market this educational organization it can be difficult because folks don't really know what we do.  Unfortunately for youth the entire topic of Agriculture appears to be a well kept secret too.  When asked where their food comes from 83% of youth think it comes from the grocery store.  Educating youth on the importance and business of Agriculture is of growing importance, especially as we see predicted food shortfalls in the future for this country.
  We are very pleased to say Robeson County 4-H and Cooperative Extension staff were asked to help with an Ag Day at St. Paul's High School.  The FFA members and ag students (58 in all) did everything from lead students in groups to lead workshops on topics ranging from wildlife to horticulture, and even animal science.  More than 300 youth took part in the day which had sponsorship from Cape Fear Farm Credit and Smithfield's.  In the afternoon high school students had the opportunity to be taught about agriculture from their peers and learn a little something they had not heard before.  The small grains association talked with everyone about row crops, especially wheat, they got to sample smoothies from the soybean council, and the local Bee Keepers Association members even brought in bees and explained the importance of pollinators.  It was an excellent event that got youth of all ages excited and educated about various aspects of agriculture.  We would like to say Kudos to St. Paul's FFA on a job well done.  

A How to Guide on Excitement

  A big thank you to the almost 30 volunteers who came out to our first 4 County 4-H Volunteer Training.  This is a series of trainings we have been doing for years with Cumberland, Hoke. and Moore Counties.  This topic for this training?  How to make your club meetings anything but a well kept secret.
  It was a candid conversation with our club leaders about the issues they face which include; poor attendance, lack of communication, lack of commitment from members, over scheduling of events, and much more.  As we worked through the list we found some solutions to make the meetings a little more fun, and will hopefully help them bridge some of the issues they face.
  Some of the tips discusses included making a schedule, making sure the meetings were timely, and finding a good form of communication.  We also talked about the absolutely most fun part of all meetings, the hands on activities.  For some clubs that is a no brainer, for example the horse club always works with horses, and shooting sports is always practicing for competition, but what about the other clubs?  Well our volunteers each had a magic box on their table and in it was a hands on activity that they may or may not have ever done before.  Some were games, others were science based, some were crafty, while some had an agriculture component to them.  After trying out the new activity the leaders shared what they had done, and gave tips on what they learned.  It was pretty neat.
  If you are interested in viewing the presentation from that night you can find it here.  Also if you are interested in attending one of our future trainings please check out the flyer here, with dates, times and locations.  Our next training will be held May 9th at the Cumberland County Extension Center.

Feeding, Stitching, and Building our Way to a Better Community

  When we talk about United Way many things go through folks minds.  Sometimes it it helping others, or fundraising, while for others they may have heard of the organization but have no idea what they do.  Here in Robeson County United Way supports 19 agencies that work at making a difference in our community.  Without United Way's support we could not make the impacts in our community that we make.
  The Day of Caring is one day that highlights change in the community.  It is like a county wide community service day.  This year there was a playground renovation, canned food drive, knit-in, planting, and more.  Since United Way is such a strong supporter of 4-H, and we are all about some community service, we wanted to make sure we were 4-H strong.  This year we coordinated a picnic table donation to the Knuckles Elementary playground renovation,  two of our clubs donated canned food, our JMG's went to Hospice House to plant flowers on the grounds, and our own 4-H Agent helped organize the 6th annual knit in which involved many 4-H volunteers who knitted (crocheted and sewed) items for babies, cancer, and hospice patients.
  All in all more than 10,000 lbs of food were donated, more than 100 items made as part of the knit in, and a playground no longer had crime scene tape draped over it and students have a safe place to play.  What a great day it was.  Way to Live United 4-H!

Happy Earth Day!

Every once in awhile something wonderful comes into our office and we just need to share it with you.  This was written by Mack Johnson, Horticulture Agent with our Cooperative Extension Office.

Today we celebrate our collective home called earth.  This movement started in 1970 to call attention to environmental issues of the day. It has since become a day celebrated in many other countries, not only our own.  Please take some time today to make a cognitive decision on what each one of us can do to be better stewards of our planet. It can be as simple as using reusable shopping bags instead of the plastic ones at the grocery store, turning off the lights when you leave the room, recycle, conserve water-empty the bowl of pet water for a plant when you put fresh water in the bowl, replace incandescent bulbs with LED's or CF's, buy LOCAL FOODS so it won't have such a large carbon footprint verses being shipped across country. Just last night I was in Food Lion. I was first met in the produce section with a really nice stand of fresh strawberry's from California!?!?!?!, I kept looking and found (for the same price) in the cooler strawberrys from NC.  OF course I purchased mine from a local grower just down the road.  Happy Earth Day everyone....just saying .........on a personal note this earth is not my (final) home but I still need to help take care of it.  Sorry for the long post.

4-H Summer Camps

  The following article was written by our own Wendy Maynor to be published in the upcoming weekend edition of the Robesonian.  You can also locate this article on the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center web site.

Looking for a great summer opportunity for your child?  You’re in luck!  Robeson County 4-H Summer Fun Camping opportunities are available for youth between the ages of 5 and 18.  Registration is now open to the public and space is limited. Why not give your child the magical experience of 4-H camp? We offer a variety of opportunities for the first-time camper to the seasoned camper. Planning summer camp for the kids is an excellent way to plan some down time for you.

The Teen  Tour Camp  is June 20 – 24 for ages 14 – 18, and the cost is $350. The  deadline to register is May 13. The first day of camp will be in Robeson County going over the itinerary, funds, and expectations. Youth will tour North Carolina State University, East Carolina University, and College of William and Mary. They will experience a day of fun in Williamsburg, Virginia, and visit Busch Gardens for a fun and educational roller coaster physics lesson. Lastly, we will visit Water Country USA before returning home.

Junior Master Gardeners Day Camp is June 27 – July 1, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., for ages 9-13; cost is $75. Youth will learn about different plants, how to grow plants, create garden crafts, and cooking. This camp includes two day-long field trips and three days in the office. By the end, all the campers will be nationally certified Junior Master Gardeners.

Millstone Day Camp is July 5 – 8, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., for ages 9-13; cost is $140. This camp is for youth looking for a traditional camping experience but are not quite ready for the overnight experience. Each day, we will travel to the campgrounds. Youth will experience archery, canoeing, swimming, and more.

Betsy-Jeff Penn Overnight Camp is July 10 – 15 for ages 9-14; cost is $400. This camp is for youth who want to experience the traditional camping experience. Youth will spend the week taking part in archery, rock wall climbing, and swimming. Youth will have the opportunity of be on their own in a supervised, structured, safe, and nurturing environment.

For our youngest campers, ages 5 – 8, we have the Cloverbud Day Camp, August 8 – 12 from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.  Youth have the opportunity to cook, gain team-working skills, and learn healthy habits all while getting back in to a school routine.

Robeson County 4-H Summer Fun Camps are perfect for youth to create lasting memories, meet new friends, and start new beginnings along with the opportunity of becoming a 4-H member, joining a club, and taking advantage of other fun educational opportunities.  Two of our camps, Junior Chef Academy and Biotech, are already full and the others are filling up fast, so stop by Cooperative Extension (455 Caton Road, Lumberton), complete the necessary paperwork, pay for camp, and reserve your child’s spot.

For more information, please contact Wendy Maynor, Extension 4-H Program Assistant with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center, at 671-3276, by E-mail at Wendy_Maynor@ncsu.edu, or visit our website at//robeson.ces.ncsu.edu/.  North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.  In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation.

4-H Wins!

  A big thank you to our County Council officers and Volunteer Leaders' Association officers for all your hard work on our first membership recruitment event, 4-H Game Night!  The night was planned as a fun event for members to bring friends and their parents and let them see how much fun 4-H can be.
  The games were set out all over the auditorium, lobby and front lawn so there had to be something for everyone.  From corn hole, to horseshoes, even Twister we had something that was fun and different.  Mrs. Wendy even got involved with the games and played Boggle with a volunteer or two.  Good old fashioned games like checkers and scrabble got pulled out, while some new card games like beat the parents made an impact that night.  We had snacks such as pizza, popcorn, and ice cream.  More than 30 people attended and it likes like we might even get some new members to join our fun.  So everyone won, no matter what game they played.
  If you are interested in being a part of 4-H in Robeson County please contact Wendy Maynor at (910) 671-3276 or Wendy_Maynor@ncsu.edu.

Bein' Green in 2016!

  Granted it might not felt like spring with a balmy 43 degrees outside but by the calendar this Earth Day celebration was right in the middle of Spring so 4-H decided to be in the middle of this event.  Lumberton Recreation Department along with the Robeson County Cooperative Extension Center sponsored an Earth Day celebration called "Bein' Green in 2016!"  The event that took place at the soccer fields in front of Carroll Middle School was a cornucopia of fun, green ideas, and the opportunity to make a change and lessen your carbon foot print.  Kids had fun activities like bouncy houses, making a garden in a glove, or even a great coloring activity.  Parents had the opportunity to win garden friendly door prizes, learn about pallet gardening, and learn about the Master Gardener Program from real life Master Gardeners.  The Robeson County Clean and Green group was there with great information and bags of useful items.  All in all it was a cool day to be green!

Tractor Supply is being Green

  It's that time of year again folks.  Time for the annual Tractor Supply National Paper Clover Campaign.  We are excited to have a Tractor Supply Store here in Lumberton and a portion of the proceeds raised will come back to our local county program.  When you check out make sure to buy a paper clover you can spend as much as you like on it (minimum is $1).  The store is trying to reach a goal of $800 during the spring campaign which will last from today until Sunday April 24.  We have set up a display and some of our clubs have agreed to go by and cheer on the staff as they do their best to support 4-H.
  Thank you Tractor Supply for being great National 4-H partners.

Sewing Our Seeds

  Our Dirty Rascals got dirty again this month at their monthly club meeting.  You may remember in March the club members (with a little tiny bit of help from the volunteers) put together a raised bed garden.  This month they transplanted the plants that they started in the Aero gardens to the raised bed.
  We pulled out the original plan and marked off the area for the various plants.  After quickly weeding the new bed (bad Bermuda grass trying to get in the garden!) it was time to dig in and plant our beautiful seedlings.  Thanks to Mack Johnson, Horticulture Agent with the Robeson County Cooperative Extension Center the youth learned how to plant the seedlings, how to trim roots, and how to handle the plants so they could ensure the best possible outcome for vegetable production.  The members planted popcorn, sweet peppers and green peppers, two types of tomatoes, and cucumbers.  To finish it off and have a little something they can harvest soon, handfuls of radish seeds went in between the seedlings and we will see what they do.
The Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardeners will meet again in May.  To learn more about this club please contact Wendy Maynor, 4-H Program Assistant at (910) 671-3276 or Wendy_Maynor@ncsu.edu.

This Meeting had a Little Kick

  The April meeting for the Dirty Dozen 4-H Shooting Sports club had a little kick to it as the members lined up to practice their skills with shotguns.  Eight members lined up and one by one called "Pull" to release a clay pigeon (disc) that flew threw the air and they did their best to hit it.   Although they found it difficult when they aimed one by one, at the end of the club meeting the club leaders, Larry Russ sent one target for all of them to shoot at once and they destroyed each and every target as a group.  Now that is what we call teamwork.
For more information about this or any of our clubs please contact Wendy Maynor, 4-H Program Assistant at (910) 671-3276 or Wendy_Maynor@ncsu.edu.

Achieving More

  Tonight marked our second 4-H County Council and Volunteer Leaders' Association meeting of the year.  What made this one a little different were our two guests; Sgt. Marcotte and Sgt. Patterson.  They came to give a brief talk about careers in the military and teach us a little flag etiquette.  Our youth and parents were so connected to their talk that they stayed for over an hour talking about options and what they need to do now if they are considering a military career.  Many of our youth listened intently and seem to seriously be considering this opportunity.
  Among other business, club reports were read, and discussion came up about various opportunities that lay ahead including District Activity Day and Summer Programs.  We also remembered 4-H benefactor, Robert Wilkes and spoke about the cookbook campaign which we hope will help top off his 4-H endowment.
  After the meeting was adjourned the adults went to the kitchen to have a brief meeting on accountability while the youth stayed in the auditorium and worked on a community service project.  One of our own 4-H members has been very ill lately and all the youth made a variety of get well cards for him.  We hope he will be home soon and able to enjoy their hard work.
  Our next County Council and Volunteer Leaders' Association meeting will be held in June.  For more information about this county program please contact Wendy Maynor at (910) 671-3276 or Wendy_Maynor@ncsu.edu.

ASPIRE

  ASPIRE is a program from NC State University that works with High School students in rural areas to help them improve their ACT Scores.  It is not a one shot program.  This program is only for those who are serious and are willing to give it their all.  For the first time we had six who registered for the program.  Over the course of 10 weeks they had homework to do, four practice tests, and spent almost 50 hours taking tests and attending ASPIRE classes.
You may have heard of it, you may not.
  So was all the hard work worth it?  I would say so, over the course of the program students scores improved any where from 1-5 points (we hope that they are able to have a two point increase).  When it came time for the actual test, scores went from 1-11 points higher for ASPIRE students from the first test they took as part of class.  They also had the opportunity to visit NC State University and attend class as well as take a tour today.  It was a great way to cap off this class which just make make the difference in their being able to attend college.
  If you would like to know more about this program please contact Shea Ann DeJarnette, 4-H Youth Development Extension Agent, at (910) 671-3276 or Shea_Ann_DeJarnette@ncsu.edu.  Another ASPIRE Class is planned for this fall.  If you are interest please check out the schedule here, and feel free to fill out a program application for the program.  Those applications can be found on the ASPIRE web site here.