Livestock Summer Camp

What is the format of the camp? The camper check into the camp and an NC State dorm on Sunday afternoon, June 16th and stay on campus through Friday afternoon, June 21st. During this time campers will be provided housing, food, transportation, and lots of learning opportunities. NC State students serve as counselors and part of the educational team.

What is NC State’s Livestock Science Camp? The camp program is designed to have students engage in the science (nutrition, genetics, physiology, health, engineering, food safety etc.) of animal production. Participants have the opportunity to physically engage with livestock (beef and dairy cattle, sheep, goats, horses, pigs and more), their caretakers, and industry leaders. Participants will also have opportunities to conduct laboratory experiences investigating nutrition, biotechnology, genetics, and more. Throughout the week we explore the high-demand STEM careers related to animal science.

Who should apply? Any youth ages 15-17 years old who wants to explore science and careers related to animal production. No prior experience working with animals is required- this is a fun and safe place to try out new things. Applicants should be enthusiastic about exploring opportunities to advance the lives of animals and human-animal interactions. What do students gain from participating? Camper reflections demonstrate growth in the detail and precision of scientific management practices that go into caring for livestock, a deeper appreciation for the production livestock species in which they may not have previously had an opportunity to engage with, memories that will last a lifetime and may even open doors to new careers, and build a network of friends throughout NC State.

Where can applicants get more information and apply? Visit https://cals.ncsu.edu/animal-science/extension/livestock-science-camp/ for pictures, stories, and more information. Applications accepted through late March. Email: carrie_pickworth@ncsu.edu or livestocksciencecamp@gmail.com or call Dr. Carrie at 919-513-0262 with questions.  Applications are due by March 31 at 8 pm.  If selected you will be required to pay a deposit on the $900 fee for this camp.

An Eggcelent Opportunity for High School Students

 

Are you ready for an EGGmazing Experience?  Then check out the 2024 Poultry Science Summer Immersion at NC State.  This residential summer camp will introduce high school students to dynamic opportunities in Poultry Science.  Camp will take place on the NCSU campus with field trips to industry partners.  For more information about the camp please go to go.ncsu.edu/PSSI

Camp will take place June 16-20, 2024.  Applications for this camp are due by February 28, 2024.  

20 scholars will be accepted and received a $700 scholarship from the US Poultry and Egg Association to attend the camp making the total cost $85.

To apply and learn more please go to go.ncsu.edu/PSSI.

Scholarship Opportunity

   We are excited to offer a new scholarship opportunity for youth and/or adults for a college scholarship.  This scholarship is looking for folks wanting to pursue a business degree. You must be a legal resident of North Carolina and funds will be paid directly to the college.   To learn more about this opportunity please click this link.

Answering the Number 2 Most Asked Question

 How do I become part of 4-H? How do I sign my child up for 4-H? These are probably the second most frequently asked questions we get. The answer is fairly simple… 4-H Online. If you have a deer-in-the-headlights look after reading that, well, that’s normal. So please let me explain. About five years ago, in an effort to make our lives a little easier, the state 4-H office instituted a program called 4-H Online. This online registration system is used in almost all the states in the country (yes, 4-H is in all 50 states). It has put 4-H registration at your fingertips and made it easier to sign up for programs, learn about 4-H, etc.

Below is a QR code you can scan to go directly to the 4-H Online website. Once there, you create a login and password and start a family profile to register your child or children for 4-H in Robeson County. You can sign up for clubs (we have lots of them starting), you can register for projects, or you can sign up for programs as they become available. Registering for 4-H is really easy, and it is free. Members are between the ages of 5 (as of Jan 1, 2024) and 18 years old. Adults can also serve as volunteers and they have lots of opportunities in the program as well.

What are the benefits for signing up now? Well 4-H members get first dibs to sign up for programs like Summer Fun (our popular summer day camp program), Overnight Camp, and other neat opportunities. Besides hearing things first, you will get emails from our office to let you know what is coming up, and access to our blog that shows upcoming programs, and boasts about our youth achievements. You can also stay up to date on things going on with our 4-H App (QR below). From there you can sign up for 4-H (under join), programs (under programs), stay up to date with our blog (under news), and more.

Why should I consider 4-H rather than other youth-development programs like scouting or Boys and Girls Club? Let’s not say “rather” here; try us “in addition to.” I know your schedule is full and what we offer is not a daily or weekly option, but we do offer a lot, and 4-H is what you make of it because you pick and choose what you want to do. Youth have the chance to explore all sorts of opportunities related to leadership, communication, agriculture, nutrition, and more. 4-H is a great, safe place to explore and try to see what you like and don’t like. We are in the business of growing great kids; I would suggest giving it a shot to see how your children like it. To get started all you need to do is sign up in 4-H Online.

So now you know the answer to the number two asked question in our office. Oh, and if you are wondering what the number one question we get, ”4-H is about cows and cooking, right?”  I would love to give you the answer to that question but we are all out of space for this article. If you need to know the answer, check out our 4-H blog and see what we really do in 4-H (I’ll leave you a QR code for that too).

For more information, please contact Shea Ann DeJarnette, 4-H Youth Development with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center, at 671-3276, by E-mail at Shea_Ann_DeJarnette@ncsu.edu or visit our website. Shea Ann is also licensed by the Emily Post Institute as a child etiquette teacher.

Inspire Others to be Substance Free

 Health Rocks!® addresses the challenge of reducing tobacco, alcohol, e-cigarette/vaping and drug use. Youth socialize with each other through social media, video calling, and text messages several times a day or even hour. This year, we are giving youth an opportunity to share information with their friends that encourages healthy living, leadership, and positive peer influence.

The theme for this year's digital creation contest is: Inspire your friends to be substance free!

Winners will be featured on our NC 4-H Social Media sites!

There are 2 categories:

-Team-Designed Digital Creation

-Individual-Designed Digital Creation

Rules:

Entries:

1) 2-4 youth per creation for the Team-Designed Category

2) 1 youth per creation for the Individual-Designed Category

Submitting your entry:

Youth will submit their entry to their 4-H Agent for submission.  All entries will be judged in a state-level contest. The entries will be due to the state 4-H team by May 10, 2024. The state winners will be announced on May 24, 2024.

Design:

- Only ORIGINAL artwork will be considered. Please check your spelling!

- Digital Creations that include personal or corporate information or product

endorsements will be disqualified.

- Copyrighted Images/Subjects: Copyrighted and/or trademarked products, packaging, brand names, music, and advertisements may not be used within the poster. Please use resources such as Unsplash or Pixabay to ensure that the images are allowed to be used.

- Photographs of people: Original signed release forms are required for persons, whether public or private citizens, who are photographed and appear on the poster. Copies of release forms are located below.

- This digital creation can be a video, poster/flyer, image, photo, animation, or any "digitally presented creation".

Qualifications:

- The digital creation must be YOUTH directed and created. It must be their ORIGINAL creation. It must convey the message of "inspiring others to be substance free" to the viewer.

- Team-Designed Category:

- This category is for teams of 2-4 members that work together to create a digital creation.

-Individual-Designed Category:

- This category is for 1 individual youth who create a digital creation.

Judging:

A 1st place winner will be chosen from each category. The state competition will be judged using the following rubric:

● Marketability - 10 points.

● Creativity - 10 points.

● Attractiveness - 10 points.

● Accuracy/Organization - 10 points.

● Overall Impact - 10 points.

The winners in each division will have a "spotlight" on our NC 4-H social media sites and a

goody bag of SWAG!

The runner-ups will receive a goody bag of SWAG.

To enter please contact Shea Ann DeJarnette at Shea_Ann_DeJarnette@ncsu.edu or Jade McNeill at Jade_McNeill@ncsu.edu.

4-H in the News

Thanks to the Bladen Journel for posting this story about the Lumber River United Way Fair Share Drawing and mentionging Robeson County 4-H.  

https://bladenonline.com/united-way-2023-campaign-fair-share-winners/

LUMBERTON, NC (1/22/2024) – Lumber River United Way is celebrating a successful 2023 Campaign, a goal of $625,000 is close to being fulfilled. Fair Share donors make up a large portion of United Way’s annual campaign. Over 250 Fair Share donors pledged or contributed over $86,000.00 towards the 2023 Campaign. United Way Executive Director Tate Johnson stated, “As a group, Fair Share donors are the third largest contributing pool of monies to United Way’s annual campaign”.

The final Fair Share main event was hosted at Peterson Toyota on Tuesday, January 16. Over 60 people attended the event to determine a winner of the $5,000 giveaway sponsored by Peterson Automotive. The thirty Fair Share finalists also received a $50 gas gift card sponsored by CITGO and John’s Fuel Service of Red Springs. Robeson County 4-H provided freshly popped popcorn and bottled water as refreshments to the attendees.

“Peterson Automotive supports United Way for their efforts to provide funding to local nonprofits, direct services such as Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, and other community initiatives. United Way is a
one-stop shop for supporting the community.”, said Shon Pevia, general manager of Peterson Automotive.

After 25 Fair Share finalists’ names were pulled during the reverse lottery at Peterson Toyota, the five remaining Fair Share finalists decided to split the $5,000 giveaway.

The winners were Monica Herring – First Bank Lumberton, Bart Richardson – Flo-Tite Valves & Controls, Matthew Raynor – City of Lumberton, Rolanda Collins – Robeson County Department of Social Services, Manuel Garcia – Flo-Tite Valves & Controls.

Fair Share donors pledge one hour of pay per month for 12 months to United Way’s annual campaign. Lumber River United Way’s Lucky Duck Derby is just around the corner, contact the United Way to purchase your Lucky Duck at 910-739-4249.

About Lumber River United Way

We unite to create positive, lasting change for people in need. We are a volunteer-driven organization dedicated to solving the most pressing health and human service needs by assisting people in Bladen, Hoke, Dillon, and Robeson Counties. We work every day to achieve our vision and mission by focusing on the four foundations for building better lives: Health, Education, Financial Stability, and Basic Needs/Crisis Services.

A chance for our Entertainers...

 For our folks who love nothing better than being on stage here is a great opportunity.

Greetings,  Enclosed you will find a flyer advertising our upcoming auditions for our  10th Annual My Time to Shine - Talent Competition and for our upcoming production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid.  Our hugely popular – and very competitive My Time To Shine Talent Competition includes all categories of talent from singing and dancing to instrumentalist. Auditions will be held to determine who gets to showcase on our stage, with over $3000 in cash prizes going to the top contestants. NEW THIS YEAR: “My Time To Shine KIDS!” We are adding another show for any talented individuals under the age of 16. That’s right, there will be two competitions this year! Both shows will be on Saturday, March 30th (1pm & 7pm). Auditions will be held February 9th and 10th.  We are also very excited about our upcoming production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid directed by our own resident artist Kendrix Singletary. Auditions for this production will be held on January 26th and 27th. Rehearsals for those selected will begin in March for the performances on June 5 - 9.   I hope that you will share this flyer with music, dance, and art faculty and post it to encourage any singers, dancers, actors, and people with other talents who you feel would fit well into either production to audition.  You can find more details on audition requirements on the enclosed flyer or access our applications by visiting our website www.CarolinaCivicCenter.com    Thank You,  Jonathan Brewington Donor Relations/Stage Management Jonathan@CarolinaCivicCenter.com 910.738.4339

Meet Our New 4-H Program Assistant

 

Robeson County 4-H is excited to introduce our new 4-H Program Assistant, Jade McNeill. Jade has a Bachelor’s Degree in Recreation Management and a Minor in Commercial Photography from Appalachian State University. We are excited she is bringing these skills to this position. 

She is married to her best friend Lucas and together they have two beautiful children. She loves traveling and exploring new places. She loves breakfast food, coffee and trips to the beach.

Jade has previous work experience in 4-H and she is a 4-H alum from Robeson County where she showed a beef heifer from her family farm. Jade will be concentrating on 4-H Clubs and County Programs. If you would like to reach out to say hello her email is Jade_McNeill@ncsu.edu or 910-671-3276.

It's That Time!

 

Folks it's that time! 4-H Online is up and ready to go. You can log into 4-H Online by going to: https://v2.4honline.com/#/user/sign-in

Re-enrolling or enrolling members: Youth must be 5 years old as of January 1, 2024 to be able to be old enough to be registered in the system. Please re-enroll all youth as members.

Re-enrolling volunteers: Please fill out all the form. All volunteers are listed as Category 1 (unless you are a current Extension Employee-those instructions were sent earlier). You will need to complete the screening process by listing references. You will also need to complete the annual working with minors video, correctly answer the quiz questions and return back to 4-H Online so it will mark the training as complete.

If you have any questions please let myself or Jade McNeill, 4-H Program Assistant know. Our number is (910) 671-3276 and emails are Jade_McNeill@ncsu.edu or Shea_Ann_DeJarnette@ncsu.edu.

Looking forward to getting your registrations in and approved, as well as having a great 4-H Year!

Shea Ann

Art Exploration 4-H Club

   

We are excited to announce our Art Exploration 4-H SPIN Club.  Youth will be able to enjoy different types of performances at UNCP's Givens performing arts center for free as well as a special Etiquette Lesson that will include dinner prior to the first show. Please see the schedule below and register at:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/arts-exploration-4-h-spin-club-tickets-776596199137?aff=oddtdtcreator

January 31-Etiquette lesson will occur as part of UNCP's performing art series.  Registered members will meet prior to the show for this once in a lifetime experience.  There will be a $40 fee for this lesson and dinner will be included as part of the lesson to ensure no one is hungry prior to the show.

January 31-The Sophia Orchestra from Sofia Bulgaria will perform a traditional classical concert.  Considered one of the finest travelling orchestras in the world this will be an unforgetable night of learning about classical music and the role it plays in our society.

February 28-The String Queens-This trio will blow you away with traditional trio instruments performing pop ballads.  Hailing from New York this popular group has made a name for themselves and will be an exciting twist for our youth to experience. 

March 21- Chigago-This is a cover band for the music of the 1970's rock band Chicago.  This was one of the first groups that used brass and strings in pop culture music showing a differnet genre about what had been considered clasical instruments.

All shows start at 7 pm.  For folks who would like to travel with us from Lumberton transportation will be provided.  Please let us know if you are interested in riding by emailing Jade McNeil, 4-H Program Assistant at Jade_McNeil@ncsu.edu.

The Void

 By the time you read this, Christmas will be over and we will be preparing to ring in the New Year. Some folks may be shopping holiday sales, stocking up for birthdays and holidays in 2024. Some folks might be relaxing on the couch with their feet up, their favorite beverage in hand, relaxing and enjoying the moment. Others may be busy cleaning up, getting rid of broken toys, taking down Christmas, and getting ready to ring in the New Year. Me? Well, I will be in that void. That void of trying to wrap up 2023, so when I ring in 2024, I can move forward with hopefully nothing from the previous year hanging on to me. At least that’s my hope.

In my 4-H life that means I’ll be is doing all the little behind-the-scenes things that let us have fun with the youth and volunteers while we accidentally learn along the way. I will get reports for the year completed, catch up the blog, work on our annual blog book, get a photo review put together as a reminder of this last year, and I might, if there is time, actually clean my office. Which will allow me to play “where in the world did I put that item” for the first two months next year.

It also means getting the workspace ready for someone new to join our 4-H staff, which I couldn’t be happier about. Many folks know in March a valued-member of our team, Wendy Maynor, was promoted to our Family and Consumer Sciences Agent position. Which has meant we have had a vacancy to fill in 4-H, with just the right person. We think we have found that person, and we are excited a 4-H Alum, and former Harnett County 4-H Program Assistant, Jade McNeill, will be joining our 4-H team in January. Happy New Year to our 4-H Program! Jade will be handling our clubs and county programs in 4-H. She will work closely with our volunteers and 4-H families as we get ready for a great year filled with some of our old familiar programs, as well as some new and exciting ones. Feel free to download our app to check out our schedule of events and what is coming up. The app download is free and can be found in your Google or Apple store as “4-H Now!”  Just download the app, and when you open it look for Robeson County 4-H. It’s the fastest and easiest way to keep up with all the fun we are having.

Looking forward to what 2024 has to offer is a lot of fun and really exciting. Please don’t mind me if I savor being in the void of Christmas and New Years for a moment more. 2023 had a lot to offer and we had more than 6,100 youth who took part in our program last year. It was a stellar year. 2024 promises to be spectacular. So I am just going to sit here for a few more minutes with my hot chocolate and enjoy what was and what we hope will be. Hope you have a chance to savor the void and the possibilities of tomorrow.

From all of us here at N.C. Cooperative Extension, Happy New Year!

For more information, please contact Shea Ann DeJarnette, 4-H Youth Development with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center, at 671-3276, by E-mail at Shea_Ann_DeJarnette@ncsu.edu or visit our website. Shea Ann is also licensed by the Emily Post Institute as a child etiquette teacher.

Welcome to 2024

 

Happy New Year everyone!  We are excited about some new things coming down the line in 4-H and spending the next year with you.  Please stay posted to the blog for updated information but a few things to be aware of...

-Our new 4-H Program Assistant Jade McNeill will be starting January 2.  She will handle clubs and county programs.  We are so excited to have her with us and can't wait to introduce you to her.

-The week of January 8 4-H Online will come up for registration for 2024.  Please watch your email, app, and the blog for more informaiton on that.

-Also we have overnight camp ready to rock and roll for registration.  Please see this link to register:

-Volunteer Leaders conference is right around the corner.  So get ready for registrations and videos for project records.  Can't wait for us to hit the ground running!

-Hang on tight folks we are going to ride the wave from 2023 right into 2024.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!