July 22, 2019
State 4-H Office Updates
Youth membership in 4-H Community Clubs has increased!
As of July 1, 2019, there are currently 15,340 active 7-18 year old youth participating in 4-H Community Clubs. That's 259 more youth than all of last year!
Thank you Deryl!
Congratulations to Deryl Waldren on his retirement from Kansas State University Research and Extension. I am so thankful for his service and dedication to 4-H Youth Development in Kansas and around the world during his career. He has grown the quality of Kansas 4-H and the Kansas 4-H program is better because of his investment.
With his university retirement on June 29, the Regional 4-H Specialists, Beth Hinshaw, Amy Sollock and Diane Mack will serve as interim liaisons for the NW Region local units. Please feel free to contact them at any time. Additionally, please follow the link (https://www.kansas4-h.org/about/staff/docs/Temp_Support_NW_and_Fair_Contacts.pdf) for updated NW Region and Kansas State Fair project area contacts for 2019 (please note some contacts have changed).
NW Regional Liaisons:
Beth Hinshaw: Phillips/Rooks District, Twin Creeks District and Midway District.
bhinshaw@ksu.edu Cell Phone: 620-496-8206
Diane Mack: Sunflower District, Post Rock District, Rawlins County and Thomas County.
dmack@ksu.edu Office Direct Line: 785-532-2278; Cell Phone: 785-770-7935
Amy Sollock: Golden Prairie, Walnut Creek District and Cottonwood District.
asollock@ksu.edu, cell phone 785-259-2256
Deryl has graciously agreed to continue providing leadership under a limited contract through October 31, 2019 in the areas of International 4-H Partnerships and Crop Sciences as we transition to new leadership in those areas.
Working with Deryl during this transition, Chris Mullins will be responsible for Crop Science project leadership and development and Aliah Mestrovich Seay will be the liaison from the State 4-H Office for International 4-H Programs including State’s 4-H International, the Kansas 4-H & Japanese Exchange and partnership with IFYE Association of the USA, Inc (https://www.kansas4-h.org/events-activities/global-citizenship/index.html ). Aliah will be working with the great team of Mary Kay Munson, Rose Scott, and Chelsy Champlin. Kansas 4-H will continue to maintain a strong tradition of global and cross-cultural learning available to any 4-H participant. Their contact information is provided in the link following (https://www.kansas4-h.org/events-activities/global-citizenship/host-family-information/index.html ):
Regarding other major project areas previously overseen by Waldren, Anissa Jepsen will be responsible for Space Tech project related activities and Shane Potter will be responsible to Dog project related activities.
New Addition – Jacilyn Tweeten
I am pleased to announce that Jacilyn Tweeten will be joining the Kansas State 4-H Youth Development Office as a program coordinator starting July 29, 2019. Ms. Tweeten is a first year PhD graduate student in Leadership Communication at K-State. Her 20 hour a week position will involve programmatic duties integrating communication skill development into community club leadership and cloverbuds (ages 5-6)/early elementary (ages 7-8) 4-H programming development (specifically focused on the preparation, engagement, and development of cloverbud volunteers).
Tweeten joins the Kansas 4-H team after three years as County 4-H Agent in Chickasaw County, Iowa and 18 months as a marketing associate for Filament Marketing. She completed her Master of Science in Agricultural Education and Studies at Iowa State University. For her master's thesis, Tweeten worked with the Iowa Cattlemen's Association and focused on the communication needs of Iowa cattle producers. Prior to her graduate work as a research assistant, she earned a bachelor of science degree at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in marketing communications and agricultural business. Tweeten worked as an editorial intern for the Midwest Beef Producer in St. Paul, Minn., where she provided editorial assistance writing management articles and profiling cattlemen in the Midwest. In addition, Tweeten worked in the communications office at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and has interned for the Minnesota 4-H program. Tweeten grew up on a beef cow/calf operation in Spring Grove, Minnesota.
“I am excited to work with the youth and adults of Kansas State 4-H. I look forward to developing effective leadership communication tools for club leaders and to help agents and volunteers develop effective Cloverbuds programs,” says Tweeten.
Redesign Responsibilities & Expanding Partnership with Staley School of Leadership Studies – Aliah Mestrovich Seay
As mentioned in December 2018 Tip Sheet (https://www.kansas4-h.org/tipsheet/announcement/?id=47538), Aliah Mestrovich Seay’s position title has changed to 4-H Youth Development Specialist with emphasis in Culture and Communication skill development. She will continue to be an agent and local unit resource for engagement with first generation 4-H audiences and will also continue to lead a team effort in determining ADA and special audience accommodations for full participation of youth and adult volunteers (https://www.kansas4-h.org/tipsheet/announcement/?id=44538). Lastly, Aliah will also serve 20 percent of her professional time over the next two programming years in a strategic role with the Staley School of Leadership Studies (https://www.k-state.edu/leadership/) to enhance the mutual partnership and resource development between Kansas 4-H and K-State’s Staley School of Leadership Studies. Aliah is available to local unit 4-H programs to help strategically vision and plan to advance positive youth development for all Kansas youth.
Link Updated Org chart: https://www.kansas4-h.org/about/staff/docs/OrgChartKS4H_Staff2019_July.pdf