Shopping Around

  The first thing we heard this morning was, "when can we open our stores?"  Believe it or not that is music to our ears.  Tuesday marked day two of 4-H Mini-Society.  One of the highlights for our 4-H day campers is opening their stores, but there were a few more skills they needed to learn before that could happen.  After reviewing terms from the day before, it was time to get down to business.
  Today they learned about how to write a check, fill out a job application, and interviewing skills.  Each camper took a shot at interviewing for their dream job and critiqued each other on topics from handshakes to volume while answering questions.  The jobs the applied for ranged from dentist, to vet, and even town manager.  After applying for jobs it was time to set up for the big event of the day, the official opening of stores.
  After lunch it was time to sell items, make deals, and learn the meaning of a bargain.  The youth found out that items at Mrs. Aggies store might not be the best deal in the Cash Society and went looking for things that were cheaper to get the biggest bang for their buck.  They learned about making deals for what they wanted and how to save money for the big auction items.  It is the beginning of business, and trust me there was nothing usual about the business they were conducting.
  Tomorrow it will be time for a field trip and the opportunity to meet someone who has started their own business, and check out their business first hand.

Welcome to Cash Society

  Today marks the first day of one of our favorite 4-H day camps, Mini-Society.  Mini- Society allows youth to create their own country, learn about government, making laws, banking and business.  Today is the day when the day campers learn to lay the ground work for great things to happen in the week coming up.
  First off was coming up with a name of their town, or society.  Each youth had the opportunity to make a drawing with a title.  Each drawing was placed on the board for consideration and the entire group voted.  Each person has two votes to cast so hopefully we do not end up with a tie of each person voting for their own effort.  Of all the choices placed before them, Cash Society, which was created by Jordan was the name chosen for their town.
  Next they needed to create their flag.  Everyone worked hard to come up with something that they thought would represent their society to outsiders and explain what they do.  After many colorful entries, and a democratic vote (with everyone being able to cast two votes), a flag designed by Tierra was chosen.  Of course Cash Society would also need the one thing that the name promotes, cash.  Once again all the day campers hunkered down and designed the Cash Society cash.  Once again Jordan had the winning design of the cash that will be oh so important this week.
  After designing it was time to get down to business.  First and foremost the campers had to decide how much cash would be distributed each day.  Each camper will receive 900 Big City Bucks for showing up each day.  Also they determined that the people who designed the money, flag, and created the society name would receive 1,000 Big City Bucks.  Of course having a town means there are jobs that must be filled.  Two of the most important deal with money and government.  Seth was elected President of the County Council, which is the governmental agency that will oversee cash society.  He will be paide 1,000 Big City Bucks for his role.  Brionna was hired as the banker.  It will be her job to make sure everyone gets paid each day.  For her add effort she will receive 800 Big City Bucks.  Celia and Macy will help as bank tellers, and will received 500 Big City Bucks for their hard work.  Gavin, Tierra, Jordan and Shelby are all money counters and will receive 300 Big City Bucks for their efforts.  In a society where they can print and cut money as they need it and not worry about inflation, you can imagine how important money cutters can be.
  After lunch it was time to get down to business, literally.  The members of Cash Society broke into groups and created the advertising for their businesses.  Each of them picked a business name, hours, and told us what they would be selling.  After their hard work it was time to let them spend some money at Mrs. Aggie's Mini Society store.  Prices might be slightly different from what they were expecting, with prices ranging form 300 big city bucks on up.
  After a breif review of the day and the concepts it was time to head home.  Stay tuned for more fun as we open all of the cash society businesses tomorrow, and we see how well our campers budget and handle savings.

Shooting at Something Bigger

  Shooting for a small target is usually the goal of the members of the Dirty Dozen 4-H Shooting Sports Club.    The idea being the smaller the target that they hit the better their aim is.  However today they took aim at two really big targets as part of their August club meeting.  The first target is the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair where they are defending their best overall educational booth title.  I was not privileged to their top secret plans for their fair booth this year, but there was a tight huddle along with drawings and measurements going on.  I also noticed that everyone had different assignments for their role as part of the fair booth, so all I can say is these guys are taking this seriously, its no shot in the dark (sorry I could not resist).  

   The second target was making an impression on the community around them with a different type of ammunition.  Under the guidance of Club co-leader Peggy Monk, the group put together "Thanks a Whole Late" bags.  The bags were meant to say thank you to the Kiwanis who have support our 4-H citizenship program.  In the bags were coffee cups, instant latte packets, coffee flavored candy and other sundries that they might find useful.  The bags will be delivered as part of an annual event for the group with a special amount of care putting them together from this specialty club, and extreme thanks for the impact they made within our community.  

Doing More than Just Talking About It

 

  It's hard to believe today was our last day of 4-H Bio-tech Day Camp.  Unlike previous last days we did something a little different this year.  Our youth traveled to Cumberland County and worked on their multi-tasking abilities as they helped make lunch, worked on a community service project and  shot their own videos.
  As we rotated groups different youth would head to the kitchen to help prepare our lunch for not just ourselves but also our special guests.  Our youth prepared freshly baked cookies and got ready to serve our guests who would be coming from different counties.
  While that was going on another group was working on fleece blankets.  Working in teams they used fleece to make blankets that had hand knotted fringe.  The blankets will be given to military youth whose parents are deployed as part of Operation Military Kids.  Its a great program that lets kids reach out and support kids whose parents are serving our country.
  If our youth weren't busy doing that they were busy making videos about their trips and travels this week.  Our groups split up into groups representing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Each group talked about what they did, their favorite parts of the trip and what they learned.
  We played the videos at the luncheon for our special guests.  Our guests included parents, representatives of County Government, the County Extension Director, Lisa Childers, and many more.  We had a good time at lunch and enjoyed not only the video but a photo slide show of our exploits.  As part of lunch Angela Shaver recognized youth who have parents who are deployed and honored them with a fleece blanket and hero packs.
  After lunch we loaded up and headed to Fort Bragg.  After we made it through the checkpoints we headed to Tolsen Youth Center on post.  There were met a mother and her two children.  Their father (the mother's husband) had been deployed (on and off over the years) for a total of about 5 years.  Our youth offered them their choice of blankets, letting them know how much they appreciate the sacrfice they are making as a family while their father protects us all.  It was a tearful moment for the mother and very touching for our youth.  Everyone spent some time together playing, and enjoying just being kids, before we loaded back up and headed back to the Cumberland County Extension Office.  After saying goodbye to our new friends we loaded up and headed back to good old Robeson County.
  We had a great week, learned lots of new things, and best of all had fun discovering the science in us.  Stay tuned for next year when we offer the fifth edition of this ever popular day camp program.

Just Clayin' Around

  The first Thursday of the month?  That means its time for the All Around All Stars 4-H Arts and Crafts Club to meet, and meet they did.  This is a club on a mission, a mission for a fair booth.  With the theme of "4-H Join the Revolution of Responsibility" this club is crafting an awesome booth.  Not only that but they took the opportunity at this club meeting to start clayin' around to have some entries for the youth home exhibit section at the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair.
  Using a special air dry clay members worked on making a bowl.  Once dry (they are letting them dry not just overnight but for an entire month) they will paint them and get them ready to enter in the fair for competition.  This is the first time in more than a decade that a club has taken on a home exhibits project angle for the fair and we are so excited.
  The All Around All Stars will meet again next month and continue working on their fair projects.  If you would like more information about this club please contact the Robeson County 4-H office at (910) 671-3276.

The Buzz is all About Science

  We were buzzing with excitement on day four of 4-H Biotech day camp.  We started by stopping at ComTech.  There we met with Dr. Len Holmes an associate professor in Biochemistry, Bioprocessing, Fermentation, and Technology.  He introduced us to members of the Robeson County Bee Keepers Association; Dr. Reginald Oxendine and Dennis Clark told us all about bees.  They told us that there are laid back bees and aggressive bees.  They showed us how to find and mark the queen bee.  They also told us the difference between queen bees, drones and worker bees.  Mr. Clark told us that the honey you buy in the store isn't really honey, and we should buy local honey from bee keepers becuase it is actually good for us and will help us with allergies, and is a natural sweetener.
  From there we went to the dining hall at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP) for lunch.  We had a choice of a variety of items and we really enjoyed eating lunch in an official college environment with other college students.
From there we took a brief walk to building of physical sciences.  We had the opportunity to meet the head of the Chemistry and Physics, Dr. Sivanadane Mandjiny.  He welcomed the 4-H members and encouraged them to continue to be excited about science.  Many of the campers thought he was one of the coolest people they had ever met.  After the introductions we split into two groups to work in the labs.  One group learned about extracting DNA from a strawberry while the other learned about cells in plants and got to see cutting edge research as its happening.  Each group then switched so they both had the chance to do the experiments. Shanna Harrelson showed the youth the multi-million dollars of equipment that they use for research and teaching in the department.  Many of the machines she was able to equate to real life scenarios which made the youth realize how much science is involved in our everyday lives.

  After that we hit the Native American Museum housed on campus.  There the youth saw examples of Native American art, learned more about the history of the Lumbee tribe, and had the chance to see how science is involved in art and nature.  It was just a hop. skip, and jump to the next stop on our tour the Mary Livermore Library.  Although many youth did not see the need in a college library becuase they did not think they would ever need books they quickly learned books are just one of the services offered at this library.  Here students have access to written works that have not been converted to digital media, as well as mirofiche and microfilm resources.  they also have the opportunity to use a computer network that gives them access to software that they would not be able to afford but need for specific classes.  Another thing you might not think of but we found out they have, are IPads available for check out.  Imagine that.
  We left the UNCP campus just before a storm hit and all made it safely back to the office for parents to pick up our campers.  So what is in store for our last day?  Something I garuntee you that will bring forth something you don't think about when talking science.  Let's just say we are expecting an emotional day.    

There was No Monkey Business Today

  In case you were wondering there is no bull about that title, however there might be a little bison.  On day three of 4-H Bio-tech day camp we focused on animal science with a hint of environmental conservation as we all traveled to Asheboro to the North Carolina Zoo.  It was a gorgeous day to start with as we avoided the big heat wave we had been having.  After entering the zoo we decided to hit the tram and travel to Africa and work our way back.
  We started by visiting the Ostriches and learning about the natural environment around them.  We also saw Gorillas, Baboons, Rhinos and much more.  Before hitting the tram to get us to lunch we checked out the helicopter, a tool that is necessary in Africa to study animals in their natural habitat, give them aid, and bring us more information about wild animals so that we can do everything we can as humans to protect them from becoming extinct.  Did you know that there are actually more than 17,000 species of animals that are listed as endangered or critically endangered?  That is out of more than a millions species that are reported to exist.  Zoos play a very important role in providing shelter and breeding sanctuaries for animals that are endangered.  Although many of the animals that we visit at the zoo are not on the endangered list, many of them would not be able to survive in the wild, and by being a part of the zoo researchers can study them, care for them and find way to help animals in the wild to ensure they do not become extinct.
  To make sure we made it to the lunch meeting spot on time we got on one of the North Carolina Zoo's special zebra buses.  These buses are powered by used cooking oil that has been refined into a bio fuel.  It serves two purposes not only are they recycling by doing this but they are also keeping what could be harmful materials out of the environment which means a better carbon footprint for plants and animals in the future.  Recycling is very important to the zoo and they are making a community wide effort to spread the word about its importance.  We stopped at the junction for a hamburger or hot dog lunch, and a bit of a seat before we headed on.

  Our next stop was North America with a goal of seeing all 1,100 animals at the zoo along with the 40,000 different types of plants.  The kids were buzzing about our first stop at the Honey Bee Garden.  Sponsored by the North Carolina Bee Keepers Association (a group that we are very familiar with in Cooperative Extension) showed us how to find a queen and the importance of bees in our society today.  Our nest stop was the Sonora Desert.  Of course you see all sorts of things in the dessert, like tutles, snakes, and aparently Ocelots which had everyone oohhhing and ahhhing.  After the desert it was time to hike on to see the red wolves, grizzly bears, and head to the Praire Outpost whic is the highest part of the zoo.  From there we saw Bison and Elk before checking out the otters playing with each other streamside.  We made a quick trip back towards the North American Plaza so we could make it home in time to see our parents.  Overall we had a lot of fun and saw things we could not see anywhere else.
  Stay tuned tomorrow as we get ready to blow things wide open with an introduction to the world of college science.