Staff News & Notes - Week of 1.14.2008
Dear Colleagues:
We hope that your new year is off to a great start! We are looking forward to hosting you at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center February 4-5 for the 4-H professionals in-service. The planning team is moving forward and has some exciting things on the program; this should be an excellent opportunity for networking. A separate email with lots of information about the inservice will be coming Monday. Please read that note to register and get the early bird rates!
During this time of year, we have many educational opportunities for 4-H professionals, members, and volunteers. Last week, we mentioned two very important opportunities for youth and volunteers to attend the Ohio 4-H Teen Conference and the Ohio 4-H Volunteer Conference. Please see both registration opportunities below and share with teens and volunteers in your county!
In closing, we want to congratulate each of you that have county endowments! In 2007, the goal for county endowment fundraising (established by the Ohio 4-H Foundation) was $300,000.00; you can be very proud that you raised $377,397.48 which was 125% of the goal! Overall, $920,525.86 was raised for county endowments, foundation endowment, 4-H support funds, named endowments, and celebration of youth. Congratulations!!
Ryan & Vicki
Co-Interim Assistant Directors
4-H Youth Development
4-H Office Address Change
Beginning January 7, 2008, please use the following address for our office:
2201 Fred Taylor Drive
Columbus, Ohio 43210
All phone numbers and fax numbers remain the same! NOTE: Our fax line will not be activated for another week!
Ohio 4-H Teen Conference & Ohio 4-H Volunteer Conference
Teen Conference
The deadline for registering individuals for the upcoming Teen Conference is Friday, February 2. The on-line registration for the 2008 Ohio 4-H Teen Conference is live and ready to accept registrations. Please access the following web site to register teens for the conference: http://www.ohio4h.org/register/volconf/indext.php. The user name is: volconf. The passcode is ovc04.
Registration materials can be found on the Teen Conference web page: www.ohio4h.org/teenconference.
Volunteer Conference
The following link (www.ohio4h.org/volunteerconference) will take you to the registration booklet and registration form which is in pdf format so that you can print and distribute information to your county volunteers.
Just a reminder that Friday, February 15, is the deadline for registering volunteers to attend the 2008 Ohio 4-H Volunteer Conference. When a session is full, the number will no longer appear on the list of choices. For example, when you attempt to register someone for Session 302, you won't see the session number as an option, once the session is full. The on-line registration is available at the following address: http://www.ohio4h.org/register/volconf/.
The user name is: volconf. The password is: ovc04
Please contact Vicki (schwartz.4@osu.edu) or Allen (auck.1@osu.edu) if you have questions.
Groom & Clean Contest Cancelled
March 15th Groom & Clean Clinic as originally planned. Due to some last minute schedule conflicts, we're going to postpone this event until 2009.
Staff and Counselors needed for Ohio 4-H Sea Camp
Looking for an exciting week out in the sun and waves? Staff and adult counselors are needed to assist with the 2008 Ohio Sea Camp, to be held July 17-21 at Kelley's Island 4-H camp. Counselors should be at least 19 years old and will be responsible for a cabin of 6-10 teen campers; previous Sea Camp experience is a plus. Also, adult staff are needed to assist with a variety of activities, including power boat and sailing instruction, fishing skills instruction, fishing, island science educational programs (geology, aquatic science, etc) and evening recreation. Come for the week or for just a few days. Your talents and hobbies could be the source of inspiration for new camp activities!
If you'd like to join the Sea Camp Planning Committee, please contact us or come to the Sea Camp Planning committee on January 23rd from 10:00 am- 12:30 pm at the Ohio 4-H Center. To learn more and to talk about how you can be part of the fun and adventure, contact Bill Harris at the Center at Wooster (harris.12@osu.edu or 330-263-3831), Bob Troutman ( Bobtroutma@aol.com), Jackie LaMuth (lamuth.1@osu.edu or 614-292-6470), Greg Yost (gmy@clevelandmetroparks.com or 216-206-1010) or Kelly Riesen (risen.4@osu.edu or 440-808-5627).
4-H Day at OSU Women's Basketball Game
Ohio 4-H Youth Development and the OSU Athletic Department are once again sponsoring 4-H Day at a women's basketball game. 4-H Members and their families will receive $5.00 tickets to the game when ordered in advance. Ohio State Women will be playing the Badgers from Wisconsin on Sunday, January 20 starting at noon. 4-H Members will have the opportunity to meet the Buckeyes postgame autograph session, shoot postgame lay-ups on the court and receive free parking. For additional information: http://www.ohio4h.org/youth/EventsandOpport/index.html .
2008 Ohio State Fair Guidebook
The 2008 Ohio 4-H State Fair Guidebook is posted at: http://www.ohio4h.org/statefair/guidebook.html Please contact the Assistant Superintendent listed if you have specific questions about an event. There is a summary of all changes for the 2008 OSF listed on the web site as well.
Blue Ribbon Youth Enrollment
As you start entering data make sure that you enter all the following information for advisors and members. For advisors you need to make sure that the following data is enter: name, address, category, status, gender, residence, parent link, club name & ethnic data. For advisors we do not need grade or age. On the members screen you need to make sure that you enter: name, address, category, status, gender, residence, age, grade, years in 4H, parent link, projects, club name & ethnic data. When you are entering parent contact data remember that the GET button adds the member or advisors address information to the screen. You fill in the rest of the data and select link. The FIND button allows you to get all the information associated with that parent. Once the parent data is in the system use the find button. Don't forget to link the parent information. If you have any questions feel free to give Jim a call or send him an email.
Contributing Art & Historic Artifacts to the 4-H Center
The 4-H Center Art Committee is inviting contributions of high-quality art and historically significant Ohio 4-H artifacts to help promote and tell the 4-H story in the new Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center. To propose an item for display, please complete the 4-H Center Art/Artifact Donor Form (click here for a copy of the form) and return it to the Art Committee at the State 4-H Office. The committee reviews proposals regularly and responds to prospective donors within a few weeks.
Camp Counselor Training
Even though it’s the middle of winter, camp counselor training for the 2008 camping season is well underway. Therefore, you may be interested in an article based on a study of Ohio 4-H camp counselor alumni that appears in the most recent issue of the Journal of Youth Development. This article is based on the thesis research of Janel Digby, former Wood County 4-H’er, and was advised by Theresa Ferrari. Their analysis demonstrated that the experience of being a camp counselor contains features that provide youth with a positive context for development, and they include a number of implications for practice. You can access the study from the NAE4-HA website http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/index.html.
Newcomers Conference Call, January 17, 10 a.m.
The first conference call of the year is this Thursday. Even though these calls are called “Newcomers Conference Calls ”, all 4H professionals are welcomed to participate. The focus of this discussion will be program planning for the 2008 topics, scheduled for the 3rd Thursday of each month, 10 a.m. To participate dial 1-800-566-2245 and enter passcode 080294. All ideas welcomed for this discussion.
Access 4-H - Involvement from Ohio
Four individuals have been selected to participate in the testing phase for Access 4-H!
Alysha Ferland, (former 4-H member)Butler County
Garrison Fogt, (former 4-H member) Fayette County
Brian Raison, (4-H Educator) Montgomery County
Mark Light, (4-H Educator) Allen County
ACCESS 4-H will be a user customizable, unified online environment. It will incorporate protected social networking, free online collaboration tools, and 4-H information from all levels of the system. It's an ambitious task, and one we feel will be invaluable to everyone in the 4-H program.
In order to represent accurately the interests of 4-H members, volunteers and staff, we have formed several focus groups to provide feedback to the site designers during our development phase. The focus groups will begin meeting over the next two weeks. Each group will have two phone calls and a short series of online discussions using tools comparable to those we are designing for ACCESS 4-H.
If you have any questions about the ACCESS 4-H project, please visit http://4-h.org/access4-h/ or email access4h@fourhcouncil.edu to contact us directly.
4-H Day at Cedar Point
4-H Day at Cedar Point will be held Friday, June 27th. On this day, 4-H members, volunteers, and friends can visit Cedar Point at a reduced rate.
A promotional flyer is posted on-line on the 4-H Events and Opportunities website http://www.ohio4h.org/youth/EventsandOpport/index.html
Please consider placing this flyer in a newsletter/mailing or distributing it at 4-H events being held in your county.
If you have questions, please call the Erie County Extension Office at 419/627-7631. Thank you for your help promoting this event!
Ohio 4-H Special Logo License Plates – Your Help Needed!
Reminder from October 2007
The state 4-H office is still waiting for many counties to provide a Bureau of Motor Vehicle petition with at least 8 new valid signatures so we can quickly proceed to have our special 4-H logo plate added to BMV's website. As soon as the petitions are received and verified our 4-H families will be able to purchase these plates. The needed petition form is available. . . . here. . . Make sure that each line is complete and that the signer is a verifiable Ohio driver. Send completed petitions to Lisa Jinks ( jinks.2@osu.edu ) 2201 Fred Taylor Dr., Columbus, Ohio 43210 - by February 1, 2008.
U.S. ED's OSDFS ANNOUNCES FUNDING OPPORTUNITY-- GRANTS TO REDUCE ALCOHOL ABUSE (CFDA# 84.184A)
Purpose of Program: This program provides grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to develop and implement innovative and effective programs to reduce alcohol abuse in secondary schools.
Applications Available: January 3, 2008.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 19, 2008.
Eligible Applicants: (a) LEAs, including charter schools that are considered LEAs under State law. (b) The Secretary limits eligibility under this discretionary grant competition to LEAs that do not currently have an active grant under the Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse program. For the purpose of this eligibility requirement, a grant is considered active until the end of the grant's project or funding period, including any extensions of those periods that extend the grantee's authority to obligate funds.
Estimated Available Funds: $24,500,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $250,000-$450,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $350,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 70.
Additional Information: Applicable regulations, priorities, and other information are available in the Federal Register notice on-line at:
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2008-1/010308a.html
Also you may want to visit: http://www.Grants.gov. Through this site, you will be able to download a copy of the application package, complete it offline, and then upload and submit your application.
Journal of Youth Development
The fifth issue of Journal of Youth Development: Bridging Research and Practice is now on-line at the following website: http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/index.html Please note that access to the journal is free at this time, but requires a username and password.
National Directory of 4-H Materials
One of the priority outcomes of last June’s National 4-H Curriculum Summit was a recommendation that we create a National Directory of 4-H Educational Materials.
This directory is a searchable national database directory of 4-H educational materials currently available throughout the Cooperative Extension System. It will include National 4-H curriculum, state curriculum, supplementary materials and guides all created within the land grant university system and intended either for a youth audience or for adults working with youth. This directory will be a tremendous asset to all of us working within 4-H.
I am pleased to announce that the Directory is now online in its initial launch state and can be accessed at www.4-hdirectory.org
Our goal is to have the full launch on April 1, 2008, which will hopefully include materials from your state or program. The instructions to submit materials to the directory will be sent in two weeks. You may want to surf the site now to learn about the four categories of educational materials which we’re using to sort within the directory and see how the database is set up.
Thanks to Nancy Schaff at National 4-H Council for her leadership of the team which worked on this directory- Thanks also to the New York 4-H Program at Cornell for sharing their state directory, which made creation of the national one much easier. I’d also like to recognize the entire team for their efforts to move this along at the incredible rate which allows us to launch already: Jim Kahler, Eddy Mentzer, Bob Ranson, Celeste Carmichael, Madonna Weese, Cheryl Newberry, Javiette Samuel, and Mindy Turner.
Please take a look at the new directory, and get ready to add your materials. If you have questions about the new directory, please contact Nancy Schaff at nschaff@fourhcouncil.edu
Resource Available
Our office periodically receives emails from external groups regarding resources that they have that you may be interested in using in programming. The following was shared with us after an individual reviewed materials on our site.
The Diet Channel (http://www.thedietchannel.com) provides a wealth of professionally written, unbiased, authoritative information and support for dieters and health conscious individuals, including over 50 articles specializing in children's nutrition.
Our site is growing rapidly, with over 500 new articles added since January 2006, and nearly 200,000 unique visitors a month.
