Day Two Forecast Hot with a Ton of Fun!

 After the adventures of day one we slept so well that day two started bright and early.  Most of our campers are energetic about morning cabin clean up.  Got to win the golden faucet.  Breakfast was mini bagels, eggs. bacon, cereal, and of course the fresh fruit bar.  It seems like sleeping even worked up an appetite for these campers.

  Morning activities started in the pool, at the beaver station, on the climbing wall, and at horses.  What fun it was to try to climb to the top of the wall and be lowered back down.  It let the group work as a group to encourage and spot each other on the wall.  Every step closer to the top was also a great way to increase self confidence and there was a lot of decision making going on as you planned each pull and step on the way up.

  Horse back riding started with some safety lessons and grooming the horses.  Brushing them is a great way to get to know a horse and learn about some of their more subtle communication cues, such as how their ears move when they are listening, scared, relaxed etc.  Then it was time to put on our helmets and ride in the ring learning how to hold the reigns and steer them where you want to go, start and stop.  By the time they were done they might have been cowboys and cowgirls.

  The campers also had a yoga meditation period.  This is when they have a chance to go into an air conditioned classroom and learn breathing exercises, that might just allow them to relax enough to fall asleep.  It was actually some of our campers favorite time.

Our Trekkers and Adventurers spent part of the day at the high ropes course.  This is where they are harnessed and attached to safety ropes before climbing and doing amazing things in the air.  There are challenges like the pamper pole that is a straight pole that they climb up and jump off of to catch a swing in mid air, before being lowered to the ground.  There are mid air obstacle and walking courses and of course everyone's favorite, the zip line.

In between activities there was lunch.  I think everyone enjoyed their cheeseburger and curly fries. plus a little break from the heat.  After lunch it was time to hit the camp again and learn about beavers before hiking to the beaver pond.  Let's not forget our afternoon break at the camp store for snack and drink.   

Dinner tonight was BBQ Chicken with mac and cheese.  Of course there was access to the salad bar and other goodies.  The bellies were filled with the food in anticipation of tonight's fun!  In case you are wondering about the race for the cleanest cabin...things have switched up.  Tonight at flag lowering Cabin 3 received the golden faucet while Cabin 7 slid into second place.  It appears it was tight just a one point difference.  Tomorrow could be a nail biter.

Our evening activity tonight was watersports for our older youth and pioneer cabin for the younger youth.  They actually played old fashioned group games while making and enjoying their very own smores.  

After evening activity it was off to the cabins for showers and bed.  Our youth were really excited about the fun they had and we noticed a couple of cabins had lights off early because they were so very tired.  That's ok becuase we are gearing up for the adventures of Day three!

Please check out this link to see all of our photos from day two.

Day one is in the Books

 Our first official day of camp was AWESOME!  Our campers got up this morning and ate breakfast and cleaned their cabins.  According to our cabin inspection officers they did a really good job cleaning.  They also did a really good job eating.  Breakfast was pancakes, turkey sausage, and the always available fresh fruit bar.  That is where they can get grapes, bananas, apples, etc. every morning to add to their filling breakfast.  We need them well fed because they will burn it off with the day the camp staff has planned for them.

Activities today included games, archery, arts and crafts, and rock wall climbing.  Different age groups sometimes do different things.  For example our older youth (Trekkers and Adventurers) will spend more time on ropes courses and in the lake the first couple of days, while our younger youth have fun with some of the more traditional activities.  For example the Trekkers spent the morning on the lake learning how to guide their canoes and how to get back in them if they flip over.  

Lunch time was a camper favorite with pizza, carrots and celery.  Our campers also had access to the salad bar to make salads if they chose to.  After lunch was a rest period.  On hot days and being so engaged a little down time is built into the schedule which is awesome.

Adventurers hit the canoes in the afternoon.  According to one of their counselors they really worked well as a team on the low ropes course working on team building.  They naturally clicked and all did a great job working together.  Their counselors were quite impressed.  All of our counselors have talked about how well our youth have done and how much fun they are having.  We certainly can tell by the smiles on their faces.  As a mater of fact one Adventurer told me that camp was the most amazing place on earth.  That speaks volumes to me.

After our taco dinner and flag lowering it was time for our evening activity.  Awards are also given at this time for cleanest cabin.  First place today went to the boys in cabin 7, and they were presented with the golden faucet award.  According to the judges it was very close for second place and the girls in cabin 3 received the silver toilet seat award for their hard work.  The third place cabin was awarded the bronze tooth bush award.  As soon as this was announced plans were made to see if that coveted gold faucet could be taken tomorrow...so stay tuned.

Water sports are always a favorite evening activity for our youth.  This year the stations were swimming in the lake (always with a life jacket on), swimming in the pool, the ever popular slip and slide, as well as games that have been adjusted to use water such as duck duck goose, relays, etc.  This was just wide open fun for our youth who had the best time ever and burned off some serious energy tonight.

When it was all over campers headed to their cabins for showers and to get into bed. To see all our exploits today, click this link. Tomorrow will be just as adventurous and everyone is looking forward to lots more fun!

Safe and Sound

 

 It's overnight camp week!  We couldn't be more excited about it.  We started this morning by meeting all our campers and their families at our office.  We must give special thanks to our 4-H Volunteer Tanya Underwood and Family Consumer Science Agent, Jessie Jones for their help with our check-in and paperwork this morning.  We checked in, had a brief meeting and headed out to our buses for the three hour ride to Betsy Jeff Penn 4-H Educational Center in Reidsville, NC.

  Ms. Miranda and our Leader in Training (LIT) Kennedi were in charge on one bus and Mr. Scott and LIT Tomas were in charge of the other bus.  Our 4-H Agent, Ms. Shea Ann lead the way.  We did make a brief stop for a mask break and lunch.  Golden Coral in Asheboro was so kind as to work with us on  box lunches for our campers.  We had chicken tenders and fries, chocolate chip cookies, tea and lemonade.  We could not have asked for a better box lunch.  Special thanks to Ms. Wendy, our 4-H Program Associate for driving all the way to Asheboro and picking up lunch then driving to our meeting location along our route.

  With the pitt stop and lunch it was just before three when we made it to camp.  There was a lot of luggage hauling to our drop off points.  Then it was time to go in, turn in our paperwork, and find out which group and cabin everyone is in.  This year our youngest campers are in Head, Heart, and Hands group this year.  Our older ones are spread between Earth, Sun, Adventurer, and Trekkers,  We found out that our boys and girls that are younger will not be doing co-ed activities this year.  Instead they will stay within their own groups the entire camp stay due to our COVID protocols.  However our older youth will still be working together as they plan their trip down the river.

  After a quick dinner that included hot dogs, with all the fixings, chips, watermelon, and chocolate chip cookies it was time to head out for our evening activities.  Today is a little slower than the rest of the week becuase we ware learning our way around camp and the rules of our new location.  Starting with the sun rising we will hit the ground running tomorrow.

    We were fortunate enough to have our first campfire.  Our counselors sang songs and there were a bunch of funny skits.  It is safe to say that we had a lot of fun.  After campfire everyone headed to their cabins and got ready to settle in for a long night sleep.  That way we can be fresh for in the morning.

  Today was not full of a lot of photos but stay tuned, we are sure to have more tomorrow.   

NC State Olympic Dreams

 NC State community:

As you are enjoying the remainder of your summer and gearing up for the fall semester, I hope you will find the time to tune in and cheer for our outstanding NC State student-athletes and alumni who are competing in the 2020 Olympic Games. We have a record-setting 12 Olympians affiliated with NC State who will be competing in Tokyo over the next two weeks.

NC State’s representatives competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are: Lucas Kozeniesky (USA, shooting); Gabriele Cunningham (USA, women’s track and field); Anton Ipsen (Denmark, men’s swimming); Alexander Norgaard (Denmark, men’s swimming); Andreas Vazaios (Greece, men’s swimming); Simonas Bilis (Lithuania, men’s swimming); Tatyana Forbes (Mexico, women’s softball); Nyls Korstanje (Netherlands, men’s swimming); Kacper Stokowski (Poland, men’s swimming); Andrea Podmanikova (Slovakia, women’s swimming); Sophie Hansson (Sweden, women’s swimming); and Noe Ponti (Switzerland, men’s swimming). In addition, NC State head volleyball coach Luka Slabe is an assistant for this year’s Team USA women’s volleyball squad.

I encourage you to read this Bulletin article and learn more about our competitors and NC State’s long and proud Olympic history. It is truly impressive what our current, former and future student-athletes have achieved so far, and I am confident that the best is yet to come.

I am always proud to be chancellor of NC State, but moments like these — when members of our Pack have such incredible opportunities for success — make being part of this community even more special. I hope you enjoy the Olympics. Go Team USA, and go Pack!

Randy Woodson
Chancellor

Congress Wrap Up

 

Thanks for joining us for North Carolina 4-H Congress 2021!  Throughout our week together we have:

• Participated in great workshops led by our fellow 4-H’ers;

• Recognized the great work and significant accomplishments of our fellow 4-H'ers;

• Heard from an awesome set of State 4-H Officer candidates and participated in the Electoral Process electing our 2021-2022 State 4-H Council Officers;

• Danced to our favorite songs with a 4-H virtual dance; 

• Celebrated our 2020-2021  State and District Officers and installed our 2021-2022 State and District Officers; and

• Learned from and engaged with our friends from across the state. 

While this was not the traditional Congress, I hope you will agree it was a great Congress and a fun time together.  This was all possible thanks to the hard work and support of so many people, especially your 2020-2021 State 4-H Council Officers.  This team stepped up, said yes, supported this event, and made it one to remember. Don’t forget to visit the State 4-H Officers Shout-Out Wall on Padlet.  Take a minute and give our outgoing officer team a shout-out for their year of service.  You can find the padlet here . The password is clover (all lowercase). They have done an outstanding job leading this year! 

Every year we ask for your feedback and this year is no different. We would appreciate it if you would take the time to fill out the 4-H Congress evaluation found here.  This evaluation will remain live through Monday, August 9th.  Your feedback will help shape 4-H Congress next year and will be shared with the teams that help plan 4-H Congress.

Thanks again for being part of NC 4-H Congress 2021!

Sarah

Congress Wrap Up Day #2

 

Thanks for joining us for Congress Day #2.  Today we used our hands for larger service, had the chance to recognize some of our 4-H friends, and heard from our State 4-H Officer candidates! Later tonight we will visit campaign rooms and have fun at a virtual 4-H dance!  A few reminders to help us wrap up today and set the stage for tomorrow.

* Be sure to use #NC4HCongress in your social media posts!

* Tomorrow workshops begin at 1:30 pm.  It is very important you join these workshops on time.  Once the workshops begin, the sessions will be locked, so being on time ensures you are able to join the session you would like to attend. All of the workshops will be great! 

* If you plan to join the Many Voices Many Stories: The Cherokee workshop, we have created a passport to complement your workshop experience. You can download and print the passport at this link: Many Voices Many Stories Passport. For the best result, print it double-sided and select the option to flip on short edge. You will be able to fold the stack in half and staple it to make a book. If you do not print the passport, that's okay - you will still be able to fully participate! We just ask that you do not look ahead at the activities before the workshop!

* Don’t forget to take a picture of you in your Congress t-shirt and submit it in our Google Form to earn Spirit Stick points for your District!

* You will need to register for tomorrow afternoon's session just like you did for today.  Instructions for how to do that are listed below.  If you have any questions, please reach out to me or to your 4-H Agent.  

Many thanks everyone for a great Day 2!  See you tonight! 

Marine Biologist?

 Our last day of 4-H Animal Science Day Camp has the potential to get us all wet.  However our youth were a little too smart for that.  Our day started with a trip to Ripley's Aquarium in Myrtle Beach.  This is always a fun trip for our youth becuase they have a great variety of Marine Life.   

  Our youth had the chance to see all types of different fish from around the world.  There are piranhas from South America, clown fish from the salt reef, and tiger fish.  Some of the fish they got to see are very dangerous while others are not the prettiest but have important jobs.

  Probably one of our favorite attractions wsa the shark tank.  Being able to go through a tube that allows sharks to swim around you is amazing.  It is kind of fun to try to figure out the types of sharks like hammer heads, saw tooth, and even none shark creatures are in the tank like huge sea turtles.

  This year Ripley's has a special Penguin habitat.  This is really cool becuase you get to see King Penguins up close and personal.  All of the penguins have tags with their names on them.  The red tags represent female penguins and the blue tags males.  While we were there the penguins had some play time with a unique toy, ice cubes.  Some of them jumped into the water and it was amazing how fast they moved in the water.

   After lunch and a little more looking around we headed up the road to Alligator Adventures.  This place is really cool and has Alligators, Crocodiles (there is a difference) wombats, land turtles, and other really cool reptiles.  While there, we saw the alligators get fed with raw chicken.  We saw a really huge alligator, and an albino alligator.  It is best that the albino lives in captivity because it can't camouflaged its self in the wild.  We also learned that they are really rare.

  After all that fun we headed back home to leave notes about our favorite and not so favorite parts of camp this week.  It was good to be back face to face and our youth did great jobs at keeping masks on and following directions.  Hope are youth will stay tuned becuase all these photos are about to be turned into a special gift for our youth.