"Talented"

  Our annual 4-H Artastic Contest took place recently and the almost 40 entries were judged by three judges who all said that this was a talented group of young people.  They even made notes on many of their forms that they would like to display many of the items they judges in their homes.  That is the highest praise of all.
Each of the items were distributed by artist age, and then category.  When everything was entered and separated that means that there were 42 entries in three age divisions.  In some areas there was a lot of competition, in others maybe just one or two entries.
Jakaelin Hunt, who is a new member of the Dirty Rascals Jr. Master Gardener 4-H Club took home a blue ribbon in the (9-10 year old age division) for her sewing expertise on a tissue holder and her painting on a plate.
Shepard Page who is a new member of the Explore NC 4-H Club took home a few ribbons in the 11-13 year old age division including; 4th for his sewn bag, second for his ceramic shark, third for his Army Tank made from beads.
Brooke Canady who is a member of the Explore NC 4-H Club took home many ribbons for her talent.  Some of the items she entered included a sewn pillow case, ceramics, jewelry, fabric doll, cornhusk doll, leatherwork, grapevine wreath with a Halloween flair, paintings, photography, and multimedia craft.  Overall Brooke walked away with 13 first place ribbons and 3 second place ribbons.
Maggie Underwood, another member of the Dirty Rascals Jr. Master gardener 4-H Club was also a big winner.  She entered items such as a sewn pillow case, a ceramic penguin, a bead craft star, seed bead Christmas ornament, woodcraft bird feeder, pencil drawing and photography.  When it was all said and done she walked away with seven first places, 2 second places, and 2 third places.
Laci Rozier also with the Explore NC 4-H Contest, competed in the 11-13 age division also.  this year she took home a first place for her pillow case, fourth place for her sunflower plate, and fourth for her ribbon wreath.
Emma Nooe with the Explore NC 4-H Club also competed in the 11-13 age division.  Her entry for her red, white, and blue wreath ornament got her a third place ribbon.
Taylor Stone also with the Explore NC 4-H Club received fifth for her patriotic ornament.
Caris Lynch who was in the 11-13 ages divison received a third place for her acrylic Sunset painting.
Rounding out the group is Soraya Locklear who receivd first place for her Pastel, "The Night Flower."
All the entries will now be tagged and packed up to deliver to the Robeson County Fair so all of our participants will have the chance for another competition and to earn ribbons, prize money, and even fame.

Our New Leaders Are....

It was a quick but effective 4-H County Council and Volunteer Leaders' Association Election tonight.  Alex Evans, current 4-H County Council President lead the elections starting with our 4-H County Council officers.  There was a full slate and each club had the opportunity to cast their ballots.  In the end our 2018 officers will be;  Gia Williams of the Titans 4-H Club, President; Tristan Page, of the Explore NC 4-H Club as President-Elect; Laci Rozier of the Explore NC and Dirty Dozen Shooting Sports 4-H Club as Secretary-Treasurer; D. J. Brown-Rogers of the Titans 4-H Club will serve as the Reporter; and Trey Williams of the Titans 4-H Club serving as Sergeant at Arms.
The Volunteers had a more difficult time.  Only three positions had folks who stepped up to run so the needed to have nominations from the floor.  After phone calls and text messages the following slate of officers were presented:  Larry Russ of the Dirty Dozen Shooting Sports Club for President; Bonnie Canady of the Explore NC 4-H Club President-Elect; Joyce Peay of the Voices as Praise 4-H Club as Secretary; Gina Rozier as Treasurer; Lillian McNeill as Reporter; and Veronica Powell as Parliamentarian.  The volunteers moved to accept the slate of officers by acclamation and the group voted orally to accept the slate of officers as they stand.
Before the meeting was adjourned we discussed the upcoming State Council Conference and the new addition to our 4-H County Council and Volunteer Association meetings of an educational component that will serve as a meeting for our clubs.  The educational component will be lead by the officers.
After the end of the meeting the group sat and enjoyed wings and pizza, as well as each other company.
Congratulations to all our officers.

Getting a Head Start

 

   The link below is for the Growing Together newsletter.  It is a newsletter designed for parents of preschool age children and would apply to a young child working on behavior, and building relationships.  It includes games and activities.  We thought it might be a welcome tool for those who frequent this blog.
https://growingchild.com/growingtogether/7277ii/Sep17.pdf

Time Management is Critical

The following article was written by Wendy Maynor for the Robesonian, and may appear in other media.  It can also be found on the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center website.

With today’s busy lifestyles, time management is more important than ever. It seems as though parents and children have never been busier. It is vital for youth to learn time management as early as possible. As parents, we usually make appointments and schedule activities for our children, but as they get older, youth should be involved in managing their time and being held accountable. When children graduate and go off to college, parents are not there to help them manage their schedules. As a result, youth may have a difficult time transitioning, because they have never had the responsibility of managing their own time.

There are several ways we can help our children learn the importance of time management at an early age. When my children were younger, and in school, I put alarm clocks in their bedrooms. Of course, I would get up much earlier, but they woke up to the sound of an alarm on school days. It was their responsibility to get out of bed, turn off their alarm, and start their day. They had the option to wake up a little earlier, relax, drink their milk, and watch cartoons before breakfast, or they could sleep for a few extra minutes. We had a daily schedule, and they knew what time we had to leave the house in order to get to school on time, so they began to manage their time at an early age. Rushing around in the morning was never an option due to the negative affects it has on both children and parents. The earlier children learn how to prioritize and manage time, the easier it is for them when they get older. Time management becomes second nature and not a stressor.

Of course, children won’t manage time on their own, particularly when they’re young, unless they are taught. If we teach and coach children by giving them consistent opportunities to manage their own time, they will become responsible and more aware of the importance of time management. We all have to make choices, and all choices have consequences. You are responsible for the choices you make, so teaching accountability is also an important factor.

I know homework is the last thing children want to deal with after school, but it is beneficial to do homework as soon as they get home. Maybe have a healthy snack and something to drink before starting homework. By doing this we are teaching youth the importance of priority and time management. Once the work is done, there is plenty of time for play and family time, which is equally important. This also helps to develop effective study skills by studying a little bit every day. It actually helps with learning and retaining the information opposed to cramming. Learning to manage your time is critical to success in school and in business.

Avoid procrastination at all cost. Sometimes when we procrastinate, it causes stress, anxiety, and confusion, because we are trying to cram a lot into a small amount of time. Being proactive, not procrastinating, and planning your schedule according to priority helps you to manage your time. Time is something you can’t buy, save, or stop, so we need to learn how to manage it.

Another effective way for  children to learn essential  life skills is by joining the Robeson County 4-H Program. Youth have the opportunity to learn leadership skills, decision making, communication, public speaking, presentations, goal setting, planning, time management, teamwork, and other skill sets while having fun.

For more information, please contact Wendy Maynor, Extension 4-H Youth Development Program Associate with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center, at 671-3276, by E-mail at Wendy_Maynor@ncsu.edu, or visit our website at http://robeson.ces.ncsu.edu/.

NC State University and N.C. A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity and prohibit discrimination and harassment regardless of age, color, disability, family and marital status, genetic information, national origin, political beliefs, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity, sexual orientation and veteran status. NC State, N.C. A&T, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating.

Horse Program Update

Please check out the latest from the NC 4-H Horse Program.  This newsletter contains information about past and upcoming events.  If you like horses or are interested in the 4-H Horse program, please check it out1

What Color are You?

  Tonight was our third in a series of 4-H Adult Volunteer Trainings.  This is a multi county opportunity and we travelled to Fayetteville for a training on personalities.  With a group that is so comfortable with each other, and has such a range of personalities we knew tonight would be fun.
  Once at the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension office we enjoyed dinner of BBQ and fried chicken, along with all the fixings.  There were also some awesome desserts.  A special thank you to their staff for working with us and making us so comfortable.  We really appreciate all of their assistance.
  Our training tonight centered around the True Colors personality assessment.  This is a tool that classifies your personality based on your characterization of a series of words.  The words are broken into groupings and the tester determines which groupings are most like them and which are not.  Once finished the tester scores the tool which translates into four colors; Blue, Orange, Green, and Gold.  The person using the assessment will have a primary and secondary color based on the score.  Although these are general tools it gives the user a better understanding of their personalities and others.  With this understanding we hope that our volunteers can adjust their communication methods and understanding of others and their personalities to further impact our 4-H youth and families.
  Our volunteers started by working with others in their own color group.  They were given the task of organizing a youth achievement night.  We had a lot of blues and golds, two orange and no greens in our group tonight.  The results were interesting.  Our orange group had a very flexible plan and at the end everyone would have fun.  The blue group had a group discussion with lots of input and created a plan that was fair to everyone and let the participants know how appreciated they were.  The gold group didn't get to far.  They were so busy creating the structure that they had trouble getting to the planning of the event.
  After some discussion everyone was broken into four equal groups where they did the exercise again.  This time each group had a rather unique, and complete plan.  They all found it easier to work together in a group with folks of different personalities because each brought different perspectives, insights, and skills to the table.
  Hopefully by the end of the training our adults feel like they have the ability to work with a variety of personalities and have a better understanding of the different personalities they may encounter.  Our next training will take place October 30 in Hoke County.  For more informaiton about this series of trainings please contact Shea Ann DeJarnette at Shea_Ann_DeJarnette@ncsu.edu or (910) 671-3276.

Thank You

Our 4-H Summer Fun program is officially in the history pages, but I feel like there is something missing, hence this post.  Robeson County 4-H Summer Fun is a collection of day camps, and overnight opportunities for youth between the ages of 5-19.  Each week is a little different and involves a lot of planning, coordinating, and often last minute plan B's to make it all come together.  That being said it often takes lots of folks to make that happen, and all of their contributions need to be recognized.  First and foremost to our parents and families that register their youth for our programs, gift a week of camp to them, and make sure they get there and get picked up, thank you.  We appreciate that you trust us with your child.  We try to offer them an experience that will  entertain and hopefully expand their learning experiences and life experiences.  We know you have lots of choices out there and we want to say thank you for choosing and supporting our 4-H program.  We hope you also know that Summer Fun is just one part of our program.  We offer opportunities year round that your child is more than welcome to take part in.  We would be happy to expand this experience to year round.
To our N.C. Cooperative Extension Staff members in and outside of Robeson County...our hats off with thanks.  You take time out of your schedules to work with our 4-H members and get them excited about things we hope adults will care about.  We have found that often our children are the key to changing adult behaviors when it comes to new things.  It takes talented folks to engage youth and help them capture big ideas and y'all do it well everyday.  You also put up with a lot of extra noise with summer camp being held in the office each year.  Even though we try to keep the noise down, it's tough when you are having so much fun.  We know you appreciate the Quiet Game as much as we do, we just wish sometimes the campers could last a little longer.
Of course to our 4-H staff that dedicates themselves to educating youth in fun ways so they "accidentally" learn things a big pat on the back with your thank you.  Our ,Summer program is often thankless, with the hours, behavior management, stress of plans coming together.  However I would challenge this and also say it is the most rewarding because we see the smiles on the faces, get to see them learn, and get some feedback from parents on if we are hitting our mark, and they feel like they are getting a good value for their child.
I would be remiss if I did not say thank you to our interns this year.  Thanks to State Employees Credit Union and UNCP we had two summer interns.  Sarah and Paige did not know what to expect and often found themselves travelling to strange places or doing unusual things, and loving it.  When asked what they would tell folks Extension does they had the same problem we do in summing it up in one word.  Essentially we do a little of everything and we all have the best, and sometimes the hardest jobs.  We hope it was an experience they will look back on fondly, and maybe even come and visit us.
Last and certainly not least are our volunteers.  We have 4-H youth volunteers who have aged out of our Summer program but want to come back and help.  This opportunity often gives them a different perspective on programming and allows them to develop leadership skills as well as an appreciation for all the things that go on behind the scenes that the adults have to think about.  It also gives them the opportunity to learn and pass on some of the things they learned as part of the summer program.
 Our adult volunteers help in so many ways.  Some spend a week with us, helping us with programming and child supervision.  Some come in and help us cook lunch so our youth get a hot lunch everyday.  Others help us with recruiting campers, funding, making calls to make field trips happen.  Each and every action is not small but big, becuase without you we couldn't make this happen.
  For anyone who feels left out we hope you don't.  Each and every person who has touched the lives of our youth have enhanced them in some way shape our form.  Thank you does not seem like enough for the support you give our program and talents you share with our youth, and we hope that you will know how much we truly appreciate you, your talents, and time.