The 4H Tip Sheet
A Monthly Newsletter
November 2013
IN THIS ISSUE...
KANSAS 4-H COMMITTMENT TO KEEPING OUR YOUTH AND CHILDREN SAFE
One of the principles of positive youth development is that a young person has the benefit of a positive, sustained relationship with a caring adult. It helps youth gain the confidence, connections and caring they need to achieve their fullest potential. In Kansas 4-H, we depend on thousands of adult volunteers to help fulfill the role of a caring adult. It is estimated that nearly 1,000 new volunteers apply to become 4-H volunteers each year.
We all understand the importance of keeping our children safe from harm. Improved policies for screening volunteers will help provide greater safety and security for children in Kansas 4-H programs. Many youth organizations such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Big Brothers, Big Sisters and YMCA have established similar policies to protect children in their programs. The Kansas Mentors standards are the preeminent recommendations for youth protection and the Kansas 4-H screening process has been reviewed and revised based on Kansas Mentors Gold Star Program.
Kansas 4-H is growing and improving all the time, and strengthening our policy for registering volunteers is fulfilling an obligation to children, parents, volunteers and employees. In short, it is the right thing to do to provide greater security for all people involved in Kansas 4-H. It is also important that we protect the image and integrity of 4-H, K-State Research and Extension and Kansas State University.
Effective October 1, 2014, all prospective volunteers who have direct, on-going contact with youth, must be screened through the revised Kansas 4-H Volunteer Screening process. The revised process includes: 1. An Application 2. Face to Face Interview 3. References 4. A National Criminal Background Check 5. Orientation 6. Review and Approval by the Local Extension Program. Implementing new 4-H volunteer screening policies will require a commitment of time and resources on the part of all local Extension units, KSRE Administration, and State and Area Extension 4-H Specialists. The KSRE Administrative team and the Department of 4-H Youth Development is committed to working with staff, local Extension boards, volunteers and 4-H families to make a smooth transition to the revised process.
To learn more about the revised policy and how we will transition over the coming months, go here:
Protecting Our Children – Kansas 4-H Volunteer Screening Process
Kansas 4-H Volunteer Screening Process Factsheet
Kansas 4-H Volunteer Screening Process FAQ’s
John Floros, Daryl Buchholz and the KSRE Administrative Team
2014 CAMP CHAIRS
Mugwamps - Joy Purkeypile, Linn County Ozsome - Lindsey Friesen, McPherson County Fantastic Four - Tara Markley, Johnson County Northwest - Diann Gerstner, Thomas County Pioneer Trails - Mike Vogt, Marshall County Sunny Hills - Megan Ferrell, Harper County; Julie Traxson, Wildcat District Purple Power Pack - Ginger Kopher, Geary County Heart of Kansas - Berny Unruh, Barton County; Robin Eubank and Tim Marshall, Barber County Dirty Dozen - Shannon Blocker and Nancy Schuster, Anderson County
Van Horn
2014 CAMP DATES
Listed below are the 2014 Camp dates. Happy Camping!
Ozsome May 28-31
Fantastic
Four June 8-11
Northwest June 11-14
Pioneer
Trails June 14-17
Sunny
Hills June 17-20
Purple
Power Pack June 20-23
Heart
of Kansas June 23-26
Dirty
Dozen June 26-29
All shifting of county/districts was to be completed by September 30. Van Horn
4-H CLOVERBUDS
As we begin our a new 4-H
year let’s take a quick review on 4-H Cloverbuds, a special activity for our
5-and 6-year olds. Activities this age group enjoy doing include: running,
jumping, singing, drawing, painting and coloring. However don’t forgot that
when 5-and 6-year olds do these activities it’s not for very long - probably 10
- 15 minutes tops! So when planning 4-H Cloverbuds activities, remember age
appropriateness.
Activity
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Age Appropriate
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Cloverbuds meeting with 3 - 4 lessons; each lesson 10 minutes long
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Yes - short learning
opportunities matches well with 5- and 6-year olds attention spans.
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4-H Club Business Meeting
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No - most club meeting
average 1-1½ hours in length and parliamentary procedures are abstract and
beyond the 5- and 6-year olds capabilities to understand.
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Refreshments
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Yes - healthy snacks that
encourage good nutrition and well-being.
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Project Meeting
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No - most project meetings
average 1 -1½ hours studying one subject with limited variety and most 5-and
6-year olds attention span are limited to10-15 minutes and therefore they
become bored easily.
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Show and Tell
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Yes - encourages youth to
share what they are learning with others in a noncompetitive environment
promoting free expression.
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Van Horn
2014 KANSAS 4-H AMBASSADOR TRAINING
The Kansas 4-H Ambassador
Action Team is a group of 4-H members, volunteer leaders, and Extension staff
enthusiasts who give leadership and guidance to presenting the annual Kansas
4-H Ambassador Training. The 2014 training
will be February 21-22 at the Rock Springs 4-H Center. It is open to all county/district 4-H
Ambassadors, ambassador advisors and Extension staff. The theme is “The Revolution of Leadership.” There will be workshops, speakers, fun and
fellowship. Full details will be posted
on the Kansas 4-H web site by early December.
Registration on the CVent system will be due Monday, February 3rd. For more information, please call Deryl
Waldren at 785-462-6281, or e-mail him at dwaldren@ksu.edu. Waldren
KANSAS 4-H SPACETECH CAMP
The Kansas
4-H SpaceTech Action Team is partnering with the Rock Springs 4-H
Center and Kansas 4-H to sponsor a SpaceTech Camp January 3-5, 2014. The
program will start with dinner on Friday evening and end at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon
at Rock Springs 4-H Center near Junction City. This techy weekend camp
will offer participants introductory level activities in
rockets, robotics, and astronomy. There will be four hours of activities
and programs in astronomy, five hours in rocketry and five hours in robotics
with everyone rotating in groups. Open
to 10-14 year-old 4-Hers, all youth must be accompanied by an adult
chaperone. Volunteer leaders, parents, and Extension staff are also
welcome.
Full details will be announced
on the Rock Springs website, rocksprings.net and the Kansas 4-H website, http://www.kansas4-h.org/p.aspx?tabid=52
by October 18. Registration will be due Monday, December 2,
2013. For more information, contact,
Deryl Waldren, dwaldren@ksu.edu,
or 785-462-6281 or William
Biles, wbiles@rocksprings.net, 785-257-3221. Waldren
TWO KANSAS 4-H VOLUNTEERS HONORED NATIONALLY
Two
Kansas 4-H volunteers were honored by the National Association of Extension 4-H
Agents during the Galaxy IV Extension Conference in Pittsburg, PA, on September
19th at the final NAE4-HA banquet.
Mildred
Waldren of Tribune, KS, received the 2013 Monsanto Salute to Excellence
Outstanding Lifetime 4-H Volunteer Award and Lisa Garrison, Topeka, KS,
received the 2013 4-H Volunteer of the Year Award. To view the photo, visit: http://www.kansas4-h.org/p.aspx?tabid=486.
Mildred
has devoted 63 years as a 4-H volunteer. She has been an instrumental
mainstay of the Go-Getters 4-H Club, as well as a Greeley County 4-H Project
Leader since 1950. As the community club leader she has positively
influenced and mentored more than 600 club members over six decades. Not
one to miss an opportunity to help youth build skills, Mildred has taught more
than 1,000 youth the intricacies of working concession stands, including
responsibility, leadership, communication decision-making, healthy food
handling practices, customer service and money management.
Lisa
has made exceptional contributions to Shawnee County 4-H with her seven years
of service. Lisa has worked in many
roles volunteering. As an active member
of the 4-H Program Development Committee and the Extension Educational
Foundation Board, Lisa facilitated 4-H PDC’s five year strategic plan, where
youth and adults created goals with emphasis on diversity, science, and growing
the 4-H program. Her passion for service
keeps her continuously engaged with youth and 4-H in her community. Lisa challenges youth to make their best
better by expecting great things from them and empowering them to lead.
Mildred
and Lisa received a check for $1,000 from Monsanto, who sponsors the Salute to
Excellence program earmarked for 4-H, and both recipients received a check for
$200 as the North Central regional winner. Lisa and Mildred received an
engraved lead crystal pitcher with their check at the final banquet. Waldren/VanHorn
LEADERSHIP WEEKEND 2013 (KYLF AND KVF)
The Kansas Youth Leadership Forum (KYLF) and the Kansas 4-H Volunteer Forum
(KVF) information is on the 4-H Online CVent Registration System and the 4-H
Website. The Forums will be held November 22-24, 2013 at Rock Springs 4-H
Center. KYLF is for youth ages 14-18 before January 1, 2014 and KVF is for all
Kansas 4-H Volunteers. This year participants in both
forums will register though the same system. Registration deadline is October
15, 2013 for both events. Extension staff should log into the Intranet for additional deadline and payment information.
For specific Forum information see the following links or the CVent site.
Kansas Youth Leadership
Forum
Kansas 4-H Volunteer
Forum
Online Registration
Hinshaw/Bauer/Buchele/Waymire
STRENGTHENING CLUBS WORKSHOPS
Back by popular demand, we’re hosting Strengthening Clubs
I and Strengthening Clubs 1– Chapter 2 sessions this fall.
Strengthening 4-H
Clubs 1 on Tuesday, December 10 at the Sedgwick County Extension Office
The purpose of this training is to strengthen Extension
staff’s capacity to work with volunteer adults and youth to develop and support
strong, effective 4-H Clubs. New staff and those who have never attended Strengthening Clubs
training are urged to attend. Past evaluations have shown the training to
be very valuable and useful.
Strengthening
Clubs 1, Chapter 2 on Wednesday, December 11 at the Sedgwick County Extension
Office
The purpose of this training is to strengthen your
capacity to work with volunteer adults and youth to develop and support strong,
effective 4-H Clubs. You will take home new resources and ideas to share with
4-H Club Leaders. If you attended Strengthening Club I training, this is
chapter 2 and if you haven’t attended it, you are welcome too. We will again
spend time on traits of a strong club and on how to build them. Topics include:
Essential Elements; Youth and Adult Partnerships, Getting input from members;
Keeping Youth in 4-H-Retention of members; and Club Management including
finances, elections and club leader succession plans.
Both trainings will start at 9:45 a.m. and conclude at
3:15 p.m. Area 4-H Youth Development Specialists Beth Hinshaw and Diane Mack
will facilitate the trainings. Cost is
$25 which includes materials and lunch. Make checks payable to the Kansas 4-H
Foundation. Please mail checks to the State 4-H Office, Attn: Mary
Please register online by December 1, 2013. Click
this link to register for one or both of these trainings
Hinshaw/Mack
GROUP ENROLLMENTS AND ES-237 PARTICIPATION NUMBERS
4-H Youth Development outreach is an integral part of the 4-H program. If Group Enrollments are not included in ACCESS, local Extension units are losing a significant number of their 4-H participants - approximately 50 percent!
Extension Staff with ACCESS responsibilities can easily add Group Enrollments to the system if they are given completed Group Enrollment forms. Blank forms can be found on the 4-H website in the 4-H Library or by clicking here. Local Extension units should add Group Enrollments with 6 or more annual contact hours into ACCESS to ensure correct 4-H participation numbers on the ES-237 report. All Group Enrollments for the 2013 Program year must be entered into ACCESS before the November 15 deadline. Delivery modes can include:
- 4-H In-School Clubs
- 4-H After School care Clubs
- Special Interest/Short Term Programs
- School Enrichment Programs
- After-school Programs using 4-H curricula
- Individual Study/Mentoring/Family Learning Programs
- Instructional TV/Video/Web Programs
- 4-H Day Camping Programs*
- 4-H Overnight Camping Programs*
Please only utilize Camping Group Enrollments for non 4-H members in ACCESS. 4-H campers should be placed in a camp "club" to capture more accurate data. Please contact Terry Williams at tewillia@ksu.edu or call (785) 532-5800 for assistance. I'm happy to help!
Williams
LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR 4-H VOLUNTEERS - VOLUNTEER E-FORUMS
Registrations are now open for all North Central 4-H Volunteer e-Forum sessions. Go to http://www.kansas4-h.org/p.aspx?tabid=459 for information and the registration links. Please register for each session separately; click on the session title to register. Registered groups/participants will receive reminder emails, and the link to the session recording. Please register even if you cannot attend the live session. By registering now, you can attend later.
The e-Forum is a great way to gain training and the latest resources to strengthen local 4-H programs. Local offices and volunteer hosts will sponsor local sessions for the North Central Volunteer e-Forum. They will connect 4-H Volunteers in their community to learn cutting edge information from experts across the North Central Region. Participants will gain new knowledge to use and share with 4-H members throughout the year!
The Forum will be fun and valuable in a group. We hope local offices or club volunteers will host a group to participate in the Forum. A hosting and facilitators guide will be available soon. Please hold the dates and plan on attending the Forum(s). The Kansas Information web page is http://www.kansas4-h.org/p.aspx?tabid=459.
Dates and topics for the E-Forum are: Time: 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Central Time for all sessions
Monday, November 18, 2013 - OMG! You've Got 4-H Parents! Now What?? Tuesday, December 3, 2013 - Engaging Teens & Older Youth Tuesday, January 14, 2014 - Using Technology to Enhance Your 4-H Experience Monday, February 3, 2014 - Exploring the Science of 4-H Projects
Buchele
4-H DAY WITH THE KANSAS CITY CHIEFS!
4-H members, family and friends will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to watch the Chiefs play the Indianapolis Colts at Arrowhead Stadium for the discounted price of $30! Game day is December 22nd. The $30 includes only the ticket; parking and food are not included. Since the Chiefs have not guaranteed tickets, order early. Orders must be postmarked by Friday, November 15 and mailed to: Mercer County MU Extension 102 South Broadway Princeton, MO 64673
Order form and promotional flyer can be found online at: http://4h.missouri.edu/events/chiefs/index.htm. Contact Sean Murphy at murphyse@missouri.edu or (620) 646-0811 for more information. Submitted by Kylie Dicket
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