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January 25, 2006
Volume 1, Issue 13
Welcome to the 4-H Afterschool Newsletter, the national online news source for 4-H Afterschool!
4-H Afterschool News:
Meet the 4-H Afterschool Opens Doors Award-Winning Volunteers: Part 2
From the Desk of Ron Drum: 4-H Afterschool Grant Winners in California Prep for the Future
Resources and Opportunities:
Know an Exceptional 4-H Youth? Tell Us!
GLOW Crazy with 4-H Afterschool Wristband
February is Super Cyberchase Science Month
4-H AFTERSCHOOL NEWS
Meet the 4-H Afterschool Opens Doors Award-Winning Volunteers: Part 2
Each month through April, we are highlighting five of the twenty-five recipients of the 2005 4-H Afterschool Opens Doors Awards. This $500 award recognizes outstanding 4-H volunteers involved in 4-H Afterschool programming, and is made possible by support from the JCPenney Afterschool Fund.
Last month we highlighted awardees from Arizona, Illinois, Missouri, Oregon, and Texas. This month we are sharing the stories of five more awardees from Maine, Colorado, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Utah.
Lisa Brewer, Kit Carson County, Colorado
Lisa Brewer has Kit Carson County involved in a cover-up – a warm, quilted cover-up. She leads ten young people in making quilts at each of three locations across the county. The participants meet during the evenings after school and work on their quilts under the experienced guidance of volunteers from the Carousel Quilters Guild. The participant ages ranged from six to 70, with most of the sewers right around the age of 18. This is the fifth year for the sewing program – with success like this, you can be sure the sixth year is all sewn up.
Frank Cleaves, Perry, Maine
The Maine 4-H Afterschool Project began in 2004, funded by a National 4-H Council grant sponsored by the JCPenney Afterschool Fund. Twenty-five sites piloted Maine’s 4-H Afterschool effort and 92 Maine after-school professionals received 4-H Afterschool training. Frank Cleaves, now serving as the Sipayik Boys & Girls Clubs Director, was trained at one of the pilot sites, the Sipayik Boys & Girls Club on the Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation. Frank and his staff implemented a successful Lights On Afterschool! event for more than 100 young people, and then moved on to develop Precious Earth 4-H Project. This project allows collaboration between youth and tribal elders to preserve local Native American history, relationship building through intergenerational connections based on a common goal, and development of gardening skills. These gardening skills were especially important during phase one of the project – beautification of the grounds around the youth center and museum. The youth also worked with a local landscaper to research and select plants suitable for the coastal Maine climate, learned to measure, build, plant and care for raised planting beds, and worked with a Home Horticulture Extension Educator.
Ryan Cross, Reno, Nevada
Ryan Cross first got involved with 4-H Afterschool as a student at the University of Nevada, Reno. After attending the Moving Ahead Youth Development Professional Training, he expressed his interest in working with elementary age students in 4-H. The first day he volunteered, the children loved him and anxiously awaited his weekly return. After observing Ryan’s caring and supportive efforts with the young people at the Essex Manor community site, 4-H staff encouraged Ryan to apply for a grant-funded, part-time, community-based Instructor position. Youth responded well to Ryan’s patience and listening skills and he was able to support their special needs and challenges.
Unfortunately, as with many grant funded positions, Ryan’s employment came to the end as the grant year ended. After a three month closure of the 4-H Afterschool Program at Essex Manor due to funding, the site reopened with programs four days a week. Ryan contacted Program Director Jackie Reilly to see if he could volunteer one or two days a week at Essex Manor. She welcomed her former employee back as a volunteer, saying, “Ryan has so many talents to share with the youth at the 4-H Afterschool program. He is a wonderful role model and we are very pleased to have him as a volunteer.”
Dennis Haag, Loysville, Pennsylvania
T minus 10 - 9 - 8…
Someone once said that 4-H Afterschool is not rocket science but to a group of 4-H’ers in Loysville, Pennsylvania, it comes pretty close. Dennis Haag takes children away from the rockets found in video games and puts model rockets in their hands. Dennis says the hands-on learning experiences and following step-by-step instructions prepares the children for their future. The program uses the Penn State 4-H Rocketry manual and the Boy Scouts Space Exploration Merit Badge Book to provide guidance for the program, conducted in conjunction with the Boy Scouts.
…3 - 2 - 1, blast off!
Kristina Wilbert, Monroe, Utah
Volunteer Kristina Wilbert has contributed countless hours to continually improving the quality of the 4-H Afterschool program at Monroe Elementary School. The program has grown steadily since it was started through a Rural Youth Development grant three years ago, doubling in size and allowing the youth to complete four 4-H projects during the school year. Surveys conducted under the Rural Youth Development grant indicate the youth feel secure in their environment, that the program adults care about them and that they are part of the team making decisions. A true indicator of the program’s success is the support it receives from the parents. The Monroe program is witnessing this firsthand as parents are now asking if their children can participate. Thanks to volunteers like Kristina, the 4-H Afterschool excitement only continues to grow.
Next month meet “4-H Afterschool ‘Opens Doors’ Award” recipients from Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Virginia.
From the Desk of Ron Drum: 4-H Afterschool Grant Winners in California Prep for the Future
“Mommy! Come see my poster!”
“Please, dear, I’m talking!”
“But MOMMY…”
“That’s OK,” I said, “I’ll wait.”
“What is it, dear?”
“My poster! Come see it! I’m going to show it! COME ON!”
She was a little too young for the Placer Hills School Teens Teaching Youth Workforce Preparation Skills program – or J.O.L.T. as they like to call it – Job Opportunities and Leadership for Tomorrow – but they let her participate anyway. She had been working on the assignment – a poster of what she wanted to be when she grew up – from the moment she had arrived at the after-school care and could not wait to show everyone what she had created.
“This is such a good program!” the mother said to me as she watched her child.
The room suddenly filled with laughter, and I turned to see my little friend and her older classmates jumping up and down trying to pop bubbles being blown over their heads by one of the teen teachers. I found myself laughing along with the children as they tried to see who could pop the most bubbles. Poster time was equally entertaining as my friend – first in line, of course – showed off her masterpiece and proclaimed that she wanted to be an artist, a musician, a scientist and a cook. Despite her young age, she understood what 4-H Afterschool programs across the country offer to youth – extraordinary learning opportunities and limitless possibilities.
This was the last stop of my two day visit with the California J.O.L.T. Grantees, one of ten recipients of the Teens Teaching Youth 4-H Afterschool Grants, made possible through support from the JCPenney Afterschool Fund and NFL Charities. Sharon Junge, County Director and 4-H Youth Development Advisor for Placer and Nevada Counties and the principle investigator for the grant, had invited me to attend one of their teen teacher trainings, where I discovered that the California 4-H Afterschool teens are hard at work. When I arrived at the training, the teens were fully engaged in a teamwork lesson, acting like machines and prompting the audience to work together to guess what kind of machines they were. This interactive activity was followed by other lessons that highlighted such topics as positive and negative attitudes, qualities important to getting and holding a job, perceptions and résumé writing – all lessons that they would soon share with middle school aged youth as part of the workforce preparation program.
The Placer County Extension 4-H office in Auburn sported a welcoming “4-H Afterschool This Way” sign as I turned into the driveway on the second day of my visit. After a tour of the offices and introductions to staff, it was down to business. We discussed the pleasures of implementing such a program and the difficulties of some of the details – like recruiting teens and keeping mentors, not to mention providing programs to an audience that may not all stay to the end each day, or come late, and frequently miss sessions. The big problem was evaluation. Was the evaluation method prescribed by the grant going to get at the data we needed? It was a great discussion filled with lots of ideas.
After a fine lunch and a great tour of Auburn led by Sharon herself, the after-school hour was upon us. June Stewart, Placer County 4-H program representative, led me to the wonderful experience where I met my rather enthusiastic little friend and her mom.
On the plane ride home, I revisited all that had happened in the last two days. It was a great visit during which I met some terrific people doing so many wonderful things. Most importantly, I was able to learn some things about how this type of program can be better implemented – exactly what I’d hope to learn on my cross-country visit. True to form, my California friends did not burst my bubble.
RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Know an Exceptional 4-H Youth? Tell Us!
We all know why 4-H is special, but we need your help to tell everyone out there who doesn't yet know! We're looking for stories about exceptional youth who are making a difference through 4-H—outstanding leaders, unique activities and other stories that we can develop to tell the story of 4-H Afterschool across the country. For example, there’s a 4-H teen in Kentucky who raises money to outfit police dogs with bulletproof vests and a 4-H youth who makes blankets to send back to the orphanage in Russia she was adopted from.
Do you know of a story that’s interesting, inspiring or unique? You don’t have to write it, just call us and talk—we’ll do the rest. Repeat, you don’t have to write it!
A short conversation will go a long way towards promoting 4-H across the country. It helps increase awareness of the good 4-H does for our youth, and ensures continued funding for our programs. So please take a minute, think about all the great things 4-H youth and programs do, and TELL US! E-mail us at wow@fourhcouncil.edu or call Gretchen at 301-961-2829.
GLOW Crazy with 4-H Afterschool Wristband
GLOW crazy with a 4-H Afterschool wristband and show your support of after-school programs! The GLOW-IN-THE-DARK 4-H Afterschool wristbands are now available in youth and adult sizes. Check it out here.
Other available 4-H Afterschool items include:
- A white ceramic mug with emblem
- Navy blue polo shirt with emblem on left chest
- T-shirts with emblem across chest
- Green 4-H Afterschool tote bags
- 4-H Afterschool lanyard
- 4-H Afterschool pen
All of these items are available through the National 4-H Supply Service and in the 2006 4-H Source Book.
February is Super Cyberchase Science Month
February is SUPER CYBERCHASE SCIENCE Month, January 30-February 24, 2006!
CYBERCHASE kicks off a month of science activities with:
SUPER CYBERCHASE SCIENCE AT THE NY HALL OF SCIENCE, January 28th!
Participants will enjoy fun CYBERCHASE activities to show kids how math can be used to unlock and explore science ideas. Cyber-celebrities Digit and Harry will also make a special appearance!
This month-long exploration of math-science connections links 20 encore episodes of the award-winning math mystery cartoon to new and integrated online resources. Kids will discover how our world is shaped by math and science through the following four weeks of themed programming: How Things Work, Measuring Up, Making Predictions and Puzzling Patterns.
Additionally, on the website, visit "Pick a Project" for cool ideas for science projects and a new CYBERCHASE The Quest online game. While you are there, help protect the animals of EcoHaven from Hacker's dastardly schemes and see the all new CYBERCHASE Math in Science & Engineering Activity Guide! Check it out on the CYBERCHASE website, pbskidsgo.org/cyberchase.
JCPenney Afterschool Fund is the national presenting sponsor of 4-H Afterschool.
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