|
4-H District Rallies
--Jan Klein
District Rallies bring together young people to share 4-H Club and county experiences, develop leadership skills, build new relationships, expand individual resources, and to make the 4-H program better. District youth representatives for State Ambassadors, and the State 4-H Advisory Board are elected at the rallies. This year's rallies are slated to be the BEST ever. Your county teens won't want to miss this great district opportunity. Watch for more information, brochures and registration to be up on the 4-H website at: http://4h.wsu.edu/members/rallydates.htm.
NE District “Put your Passion to Work”
October 2-4, 2009
Chewelah Peak
Hosted by Stevens County
Registration brochure
SE District “CSI Walla Walla: Get a Clue”
October 23-25, 2009
Meadowood Springs Speech & Hearing Camp
Hosted by Walla Walla
Information at http://wallawalla.wsu.edu/4h/teen_rally.html
NW District "Hop to the Top"
November 6-8, 2009
Sound View Camp
Hosted by Kitsap County
Registration brochure
SW District “Living Green”
November 6-8, 2009
Camp Wiriki
Hosted by Skamania County
Registration brochure
2009 State Dog Project Quiz Bowl
--Chip Taylor, Dog Project Bowl organizer
The 2009 State Dog Project Quiz Bowl was held on Sunday, September 20 at the State Fair Dog Barn. There were 7 counties represented with teams for the Intermediate Bowl and 9 counties for the Senior Team. Clark and King Counties assumed moderation duties this year. The level of knowledge that all team members demonstrated during the bowl competition was astounding and all members can be very proud of the work they put in and in the high level of competition that we saw.
In the Intermediate Bowl, King County took first place. Team members were Rachel Eulau, Addie Pardie, Liz Bultman, Kelsey Messecar and Nicole Shriver. Clark County came in second with team members Dexter Corlett, Mallary Roes, Kyle Thun and Raina Moss.
In the Senior Bowl, the results were reversed with the Clark County team of Cheyenne Schlect, Katelyn Vivan, Beth McCamish and Meredith Stewart taking first place honors and the King County Team of Tia Smith, Anne-Lisa Nilsen, Tessa Loudiana, Aimee Hood and Emily Andrew taking second place.
Congratulations to all participants and a big thanks to all the adult leaders who supported these young people and who worked at the Bowl.
Western Regional 4-H Leaders' Forum 2010 Promotion Items
--Submitted by Pat BoyEs
The Western Regional 4-H Forum will take place March 11-14, 2010 in Albuquerque New Mexico. The New Mexico team is planning a terrific educational event for all of us in the Western States and Territories. I know that some of you will want to promote the WRLF during your fall leader's meetings. We really appreciate your help in advertising. Hope to see you in the Land of Enchantment in March!
Everyone Ready and Volunteerism for the Next Generation
--Submitted by Pat BoyEs
Volunteers are vital to all Extension programs. Volunteers allow Extension staff to expand the capacity of programming in a county and they help to develop the social capital of our communities. They have been vital to our success in the past and will become even more important in the months and years to come!
I hope that you will personally enroll in Everyone Ready® and will encourage and support staff in your state to actively participate in Everyone Ready®. Please use the following information and the attachments to promote this initiative in your state. Please share this information with others in charge of professional development within in your state for Extension staff as well.
Everyone Ready® is an online volunteer management training program developed by Energize Inc. National 4-H Council, through a grant from Monsanto, is making this program available to all Extension staff nationwide regardless of program area or title. There is no cost to states or individuals (although the cost ordinarily for states is $12-18,000 per year and the cost to individuals is $495 per year).
The launch date for Everyone Ready® is September 21, 2009. Each month a new volunteerism topic is introduced – either as an Online Seminar or as a Self-Instruction Guide. In addition, Extension staff will have access to e-Volunteerism: The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community (a $40 value) and will be able to purchase volunteerism resources from the Energize online bookstore with a 20% discount. New topics are introduced on the third Monday of each month but will be archived for Extension use for the 3 years of the grant.
Register for Everyone Ready®
Please encourage every Extension paid staff member that works with volunteers to enroll and actively participate in the Everyone Ready® program over the next 3 years. To do so, they may enroll at anytime. However, the initial launch is Sept. 21. 2009 and the introductory online seminar will be offered for 30 days beginning on Sept. 21. Modules will be archived and be accessible after the initial posting.
To register go to www.4-h.org/volunteerism. Go to the Everyone Ready® section and click on Register. Once they have completed the registration information, they will receive an email confirmation and will then have a user name and password that they can use to enter the “Extension” Everyone Ready® page. This contains a number of useful tools and resources as well as the link to the “real” Everyone Ready® page. They will be able to use the user name and password to access the online seminar or self-instruction guide each month beginning on the third Monday of the month. Once they are registered they will also receive two email messages a month reminding them of the current and upcoming topic.
Once they are registered, encourage them to review the content on the www.4-h.org/volunteerism page as well as the “Extension” Everyone Ready page that they can access with their user name and password.
Time Commitment: The monthly online modules will take about one hour to complete. In addition, staff may want to review some related articles in the e-Volunteerism Journal or read some additional information available through the Energize Inc. web site. In addition, we hope that staff will think about ways to engage in conversations about the monthly volunteerism topic at county/unit staff meetings, regional/district youth development meetings, and/or other staff gatherings. State specialists may want to organize learning circles or cohorts around this initiative.
In Preparation for Launch: The National 4-H Learning Priority Team on Volunteerism has spent the last two years developing a Volunteerism Rubric/Syllabus, Self-Assessment Tool, and Personal Professional Development Plan. These resources can be found on the same web site – www.4-h.org/volunteerism. Encourage each staff member to download these three resources. Please read through the rubric which contains competencies staff need to be effective in working with volunteers. The rubric includes learning outcomes, suggested readings, and learning activities. The Everyone Ready® modules as well as the Volunteerism for the Next Generation Fact Sheets (VNG) are listed in the rubric. Once staff have reviewed the rubric, encourage them to complete the Self-Assessment to see which areas they might strengthen as a part of their own professional development. Then they can transfer that information over to the Personal Professional Development Plan and list the Everyone Ready® modules and corresponding VNG Fact Sheets that they would like to utilize in the next year. We do encourage participation in all Everyone Ready® modules.
additional information and clarification:
4-H 36 Cycle of Topics from Everyone Ready® - this lists the topics of the online seminars and self-instructions guides that will be available on the third Monday of each month.
Welcome Guide for Everyone Ready® - this is a brief introduction to the Everyone Ready® web site. There is a more detailed Welcome Guide available on the “Extension” Everyone Ready® website which you may access after you register for Everyone Ready®.
Promotion Flyer – Sept. 09 Online Seminar – Building the Foundation for Volunteer Involvement – this is a promotional flyer that you may share with staff that lists the trainer, learning objectives, and other information about the introductory seminar which launches on Sept. 21!
Sheri Seibold, Extension Specialist, 4-H Youth Development at the University of Illinois is serving as the Everyone Ready Point Person. If you have questions please email Sheri at sseibold@illinois.edu or phone her at 217-333-9290. Please encourage enrollment today at www.4-h.org/volunteerism.
4-H Brand Development
--Submitted by Pat BoyEs
I want to update you on an exciting communications initiative to create more awareness for 4-H and tell our story more effectively to important audiences—both new and old.
This summer, working in collaboration with 4-H National Headquarters and the Cooperative Extension System, National 4-H Council began a brand development project targeting some of our most important stakeholders: public and private funders and influencers. They conducted an in-depth survey of their attitudes and knowledge of 4-H—and got back opinions, perceptions and insights. Those insights have been used to develop some new messages that can hopefully move perceptions of 4-H in a positive direction.
They are testing preliminary messages and visuals with this same audience to find out if they are compelling and credible. A large group of corporate contacts, county commissioners and others will be asked to share their thoughts by participating in an online survey. They'll be asked to rate how well specific messages describe 4-H as it is today, and as it should be in the future. You are being asked to take the survey too. It's quick—no more than 10 minutes to complete. Trust me, I just did it in less than 5 and you know your technical skills are higher than mine.
With this feedback in hand, we will ensure we have crafted a new story for 4-H that will positively impact our mission. It will be a step-by-step, inclusive process, guided by both brand experts and 4-H/Extension leadership. We are just at the beginning. I am looking forward to sharing more as we proceed.
To view (and participate in) the survey click here http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229P2UCC7DP.
Announcement of Signing of a New Memorandum of Understanding Between USDA and National 4-H Council
--Submitted by Pat BoyEs
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Colien Hefferan, CSREES Administrator; Don Floyd, President and CEO, National 4-H Council; and James Borel, Chair of the Board of Trustees for National 4-H Council; signed a new Memorandum of Understanding. The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to clarify the responsibilities of each entity with respect to the 4-H Youth Development Program.
A full press release and copy of the Memorandum of Understanding can be found on the CSREES website: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/news/2009news/09221_4h_mou.html.
ARRA Building Sustainable Community-Linked Infrastructure to Enable Health Science Research (RC4)
--Submitted by Pat BoyEs
I want to inform you about the Recovery Act Limited Competition: Building Sustainable Community-Linked Infrastructure to Enable Health Science Research (RC4), RFA-OD-09-010 that has just been published in the NIH Guide. This funding opportunity announcement solicits applications from domestic (United States) institutions/organizations proposing to support the development, expansion, or reconfiguration of infrastructures needed to facilitate collaboration between academic health centers and community-based organizations for health science research. Such collaboration should transform the way in which health science research is conducted in communities, and accelerate the pace, productivity, dissemination, and implementation of health research; applications that build upon extant collaborative infrastructures supported by other Federal agencies are strongly encouraged. NIH has designated up to $30 million in FY2009-2010 to fund 30 or more grants through this announcement. Applications are due December 11, 2009; receipt date for letters of intent is February 12, 2009.
Here is the link to the announcement http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-09-010.html
Positive Youth Development Webinar and Resources available
--Submitted by Pat BoyEs
A word of gratitude to Jo Turner & Jackie Lerner, Bob McNary, Renee McKee, and Laura Bossaer for a great webinar on Research and Evaluation, summarizing the process and outcomes of the 4-H Positive Youth Development Study. The webinar recording is now posted at http://nc4-heval.wikispaces.com. Follow the link from Evaluation Community of Practice to Webinars to Webinars 09 and scan down the list to 9-23-09.
The PowerPoints, Laura's brochures, and links to web sites cited during the webinar are included there.
The next Webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, October 21; 3-5PM. Dr. William Trochim of Cornell University will talk about evaluating through the program development cycle--finding the right tools for the right time! A link will be sent in the week before.
Evaluation Specialist Position
--Submitted by Pat BoyEs
Evaluation Specialist - Family and Consumer Sciences - 43801
The successful candidate will coordinate the activities and functions of the AZ-SEARCH (AZ- Supporting Evaluation and Research Capacity Hub) project within the Family and Consumer Sciences Cooperative Extension (FCS CE) lab housed within the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences. Specifically, the Evaluation Specialist will manage the activities of the a national project by promoting communication and collaboration among partnering institutions and assisting in the development of project-specific research and evaluation deliverables that support the overall work.To apply for this position please go to: https://www.uacareertrack.com/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1253636567623
Just a Reminder!
When you have new Extension staff that will be working in some capacity with 4-H, please let Nancy in the State 4-H Office know. They will be added to mailing lists, added to the 4-H Talk list serve, sent a 4-H Welcome Packet, and be assigned a state 4-H staff person as a point of contact, as appropriate. 4-H News is sent via the 4-H Talk list serve each week. Archived copies of previous weeks “Tuesday 4-H News” are available on the 4-H web site: http://4h.wsu.edu/. Please send submissions by Friday of each week to Tiffany Boswell, State 4-H Office, tiffany_boswell@wsu.edu. Detailed event information and registrations forms can be found on the 4-H web site.