4-H NEWS

1-Teens Chosen for 4-HUSA Web Crew

(Washington, DC) Fourteen teens from across the United States have been selected for the 4-HUSA Web Crew, a group charged with designing 4-HUSA.ORG, 4-H's first national web site exclusively for, by and about youth.

4-HUSA Web Crew members are Kathryn Ball, Bakersfield, CA; Nicole Batten, Douglas, GA; Josh Cook, Greenville, SC; Emily Cox, West Lafayette, IN; Jim Dabringer, Brownsville, WI; Jessica Falkenthal, Fairfield, OH; Byron Hulcher, Brookeville, MD; Elizabeth Juers, Ithaca, NY; Kenny LaFranier, Forestgrove, MT; Jared Pickens, Hermitage, TN; Cindy Sperry, Davis, CA; Laura Stone, Waynesboro, GA; Hayley Trahan-Liptak, Rutland, MA; and James Woo, Frederick, MD.

The 4-HUSA Web Crew will design and manage the website, which will demonstrate the size, diversity and value of the 4-H adventure. Focusing on youth ages 13-16, the site will feature a complete list of 4-H web sites organized by state and interactive elements like message boards, weblogs and myname@4-Husa.org e-mail aliases. The new site will debut in August.

4-HUSA Web Crew members are youth ages 13 or older with demonstrated expertise in web site design and management and public relations.

Kathryn Ball
Eighteen-year-old Ball will attend Bakersfield College majoring in animal science in the fall. She has been a member of the California Computer Corps since 2002, developing workshops, presenting training sessions and facilitating communications within the group.

Nicole Batten
A 14-year 4-H member, Batten, 22, is a senior majoring in management information systems and new media at the University of Georgia. She has been extremely active with Georgia 4-H Youth Technology Leadership Team as a collegiate member and adult advisor for the past five years and has developed and designed a number of templates and websites.

Josh Cook
Sixteen-year-old Cook designed the website for his 4-H club, the Easley Surfers, which focuses on community service, learning leadership skills and working with youth in the community.

Emily Cox
A five-year 4-H member, 13-year-old Cox is an eighth grader at Klondike Middle School. She truly enjoys web design and contributes to the 4-HUSA Web Crew knowledge of graphics and animation as well as proficiency in HTML and CSS coding.

Jim Dabringer
Seventeen-year-old Dabringer, a senior at Winnebago Lutheran Academy, is a member of the Wisconsin 4-H Technology team. He has 11 years of computer experience including extensive website development. He has developed his own website and websites for the State 4-H Tech Team, Wisconsin 4-H Youth Conference and a church congregation. He has taught a number of computer workshops and attended a variety of technology conferences.

Jess Falkenthal
Falkenthal, 19, is a sophomore at Indiana University double majoring in informatics with a cognate area of digital fine arts and telecommunications. A 10-year 4-H member, Falkenthal is a founding member of Ohio 4-H Technology Team and editor of the Ohio 4-H Tech News 4-U newsletter. She brings great skill and creativity in web design, HTML coding and leadership in developing new ideas to the 4HUSA web team.

Byron Hulcher
Fifteen-year-old Hulcher is a high school sophomore and a seven-year 4-H member who is involved with the Maryland 4-H Technology Team. He brings a wide range of computer and web development skills to the crew.

Elizabeth Juers
Seventeen-year-old Juers is an Ithaca High School senior who will attend Colgate University in the fall. She is a seven-year 4-H member and a New York State 4-H Ambassador. Juers is a computer-savvy, creative leader who will focus on marketing the 4-HUSA.org website to other youth.

Kenny LaFranier
Thirteen-year-old LaFranier has designed a website for a business in his community. He believes his participation with the 4-HUSA web crew will be a good opportunity to gain experience while helping fellow 4-Hers have a site of their own.

Jared Pickens
A 4-H member for five years, 16-year-old Pickens developed the website for his county 4-H program and his own website. Pickens recently received a $25,000 grant to purchase a portable computer lab for his high school.

Cindy Sperry
Sperry is a sophomore majoring in animal science at the University of California Davis. Active in the California 4-H Computer Corps, Sperry, 20, has redesigned and implemented the California 4-H website and developed the annual newsletter. Sperry's process-planning and troubleshooting skills will be invaluable in planning the overall architecture of the 4HUSA.org website.

Laura Stone
Stone, a senior at Edmund Burke Academy, has been a 4-H member for eight years and is a member of the National 4-H Youth Technology Team and the Georgia 4-H Technology Team. She has contributed her talents to the Georgia 4-H Tech Team's Need-a-Computer project and will compete at Georgia State 4-H Congress this summer.

Hayley Trahan-Liptak
Fourteen-year-old Trahan-Liptak has been a 4-Her for eight years and is currently a member of the Central Massachusetts Lego Brains 4-H Robotics Club, youth chair for the Worcester County 4-H Fair and a freshman at Holy Name Central Catholic High School. A leader and team worker, Trahan-Liptak's work ethic and basic experience in website design will be a great contribution to the web crew.

James Woo
A member of the Fort Detrick Army Base 4-H Club, Woo, 16, is experienced in writing HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, and MySQL computer code and is proficient in a number of computer programs.

4-H is a community of young people across America who learn leadership, citizenship and life skills. Young people who participate in university-based 4-H programs in their local communities gain these skills through experience-based activities.

Top: National 4-H Youth Conference Center Chef Daymo Nash is a culinary artist who enjoys creating dishes for meal times and special events. Linda Smith assists him as he prepares for an exhibition. Bottom: Nash poses with a swan he sculpted out of ice to grace the dessert and hors d'houvres table at a recent event.

2-Chef Delights 4-H Youth Conference Center Guests

(Washington, DC) National 4-H Youth Conference Center Chef Daymo Nash loves to cook. In fact, he knew he wanted to be a chef at the tender age of 10.

Nash always wanted to be in the kitchen with his mom when he was growing up as she cooked her specialty, breakfast omelets, and her favorite Caribbean dishes, Escabeche fish and curry chicken. Interest in cooking runs in the rest of the family too, Nash said, explaining that his sisters are great cooks and his brother is a chef at his own restaurant.

Even so, I'm the best cook in the family, Nash says with a wink. A graduate of the Hyde Park Culinary Institute of America, Nash is a trained executive chef with a master's degree in business administration and 13 years experience in the hotel industry. He won a Culinary Olympics gold medal three years in a row for best display in international culinary cuisine.

Nash's National 4-H Youth Conference Center co-workers not only admire Nash's culinary skills, but his positive, can-do attitude. He's one of the finest chefs I have met. He's an even finer person. He can do anything, said National 4-H Youth Conference Center Food Service Manager Madeline Green. Daymo is very artistic, nice, hard-working, and easy to get along with, said Sally Williams, a four-year p.m. cook.

Artistic is certainly the right word to describe Nash who loves exhibition cooking and is the perfect performer when he prepares food in front of people at many events at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center. To me it's an art. People are able to see my skills, Nash said.

Nash also is a great sculpture in his favorite medium: ice. For one very special evening, he carved a sparkling swan ice sculpture that he displayed among chocolate-dipped strawberries and other delicious desserts. I think I shocked a lot of people, Nash said. After all, many guests don't expect to see such elegant work at a youth conference center.

Nash constantly brainstorms ways to improve the taste and presentations of the dishes served at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center. People eat with their eyes, sense of smell and through taste, which all factor into his cooking. He particularly enjoys perfecting dessert presentations. I think a lot. I'll wake up at three or four in the morning. That's the time I get my ideas, Nash said.

Nash wants to share his culinary expertise with the world, so he is working on a cookbook that is due out in 2005. Someday, he hopes to own a gourmet restaurant that specializes in Caribbean cuisine so he can preserve the ethnic and cultural tastes that influence his love of cooking.

Right now, Nash is happy to be at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center, preparing delectable morsels for its guests. I love 4-H. I'm absolutely very, very content here at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center. Working here allows me to spend more time with my family and create great food with a diverse group of very talented people. I love to teach them things too. I want to be here a lot longer, Nash said.

Visit http://www.4hcenter.org/ for more information about dining and catering at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center.

3-4-H Online Conference Rescheduled

Mark your calendars! Michigan 4-H Youth Development's first ever online conference, Building Community Through Service, has been rescheduled for Thursday, July 22, 2004.

This online conference has been reconceived and is now an one-day event featuring real-time chat sessions with featured presenters at an even lower cost!

Building Community Through Service will focus on youth voice when it comes to service-learning, civic and political engagement and community-building. Much like a traditional conference, but at less than the quarter of the cost, this one-day online event will feature keynote, session leader and youth panel presentations focusing on community youth development, youth and adult partnerships and youth leadership.

Do you have a schedule conflict on the 22nd? Register anyway and take advantage of previewing and downloading presentations, reviewing chat logs, accessing quality resources and networking all week long from July 19-25!

Register now! Cost is $25 per registrant. Payment is by credit card only.
Online registration, conference schedule and further details are now available at www.msue.msu.edu/cyf/youth/commserv/SLConf/

Still Have Questions? Contact Beth Cheng, Conference Coordinator at 517-432-7641 or chengb@msue.msu.edu

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