District 9 4-H Photography Contest Online

The District 9 4-H Photography contest is available for entry, and entry is easier than ever.  The entry process is all on-line.  Counties will not need to handle the actual photos in order for a young person to enter the contest.

For the contestant, that means there is two steps to the entry.  First they will upload their photos to Shutterfly, then they will enter using 4-H Connect.

Complete instructions can be found on the District 9 4-H Web Site.

Entry Deadline is April 11, 2010, but get 'em started early; the new process may cause a little confusion.

Till next time,
Kevin

Food Show and Food Challenge Available NOW!!!!!

The District 9 4-H Food Show and District 9 4-H Food Challenge are both available for registration on-line through 4-H connect....hurry and beat the Christmas rush, along with the late fees!

Kevin

What Gives You the Right to Lead?

WHAT GIVES A MAN OR WOMAN THE RIGHT TO LEAD?

It certainly isn't gained by election or appointment. Having position, title, rank, or degrees doesn't qualify anyone to lead other people. And the ability doesn't come automatically from age or experience, either. No, it would be accurate to say that no one can be given the right to lead. The right to lead can only be earned. And that takes time.

The Kind of Leader Others Want to Follow

The key to becoming an effective leader is not to focus on making other people follow, but on making yourself the kind of person they want to follow. You must become someone others can trust to take them where they want to go. As you prepare yourself to become a better leader, use the following guidelines to help you grow:

1. Let go of your ego. The truly great leaders are not in leadership for personal gain. They lead in order to serve other people. Perhaps that is why Lawrence D. Bell remarked, "Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things, and I'll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things."
   
2. Become a good follower first. Rare is the effective leader who didn't learn to become a good follower first. That is why a leadership institution such as the United States Military Academy teaches its officers to become effective followers first - and why West Point has produced more leaders than the Harvard Business School.
   
3. Build positive relationships. Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. That means it is by nature relational. Today's generation of leaders seem particularly aware of this because title and position mean so little to them. They know intuitively that people go along with people they get along with.
   
4. Work with excellence. No one respects and follows mediocrity. Leaders who earn the right to lead give their all to what they do. They bring into play not only their skills and talents, but also great passion and hard work. They perform on the highest level of which they are capable.
   
5. Rely on discipline, not emotion. Leadership is often easy during the good times. It's when everything seems to be against you - when you're out of energy, and you don't want to lead - that you earn your place as a leader. During every season of life, leaders face crucial moments when they must choose between gearing up or giving up. To make it through those times, rely on the rock of discipline, not the shifting sand of emotion.
   
6. Make adding value your goal. When you look at the leaders whose names are revered long after they have finished leading, you find that they were men and women who helped people to live better lives and reach their potential. That is the highest calling of leadership - and its highest value.
   
7. Give your power away.

One of the ironies of leadership is that you become a better leader by sharing whatever power you have, not by saving it all for yourself. You're meant to be a river, not a reservoir. If you use your power to empower others, your leadership will extend far beyond your grasp.

Excerpt form:  The Right to Lead, by John Maxwell

GPS Nuts!!!

For all you GPS/GIS aficionados there is a special day coming up just for you:  GIS Day.  It's a celebration of all things related to GIS and it happens on November 18, 2009.

For the rest of us that would like to figure out how we can use GPS/GIS in our 4-H programing, the site is posting success stories with GIS efforts and activities involving the use of these systems.

If this type of programing is in your near future, you'll want to check this out.

Till I coordinate with you later,
Kevin

Every now and then

Every now and then a resource comes along that makes you stop and say, "Wow, I could really use that".

"Managing 4-H Family and Consumer Science Projects" is just that type of resource.  It goes way beyond FCS.  In the guide you will find essentials for Educational Presentations, Record Book Judging and a lot more...
Of course you will also find information on the Food Challenge and Housing and the Home Environment.

This one is worth blocking a little time for perusal.  You will also find the check lists in it useful for event planning.
http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/library/files/D1464.pdf 

Take the time to read this one and it will improve your program.

Kevin

Roundup at Texas Tech

Texas 4-H State Roundup at Texas Tech in 2012! 

Guns Up!
Need I say more?

WOW

Wow, is all I can say about the 2009 Junior Leadership Lab.  Everyone I talk to raves about how good this one was.

A special thank you and a "Job Well Done" to the committee:  Starla Garlick, Allysa Puckett, Angela Camden, and Tyler Fitzgerald.

Also a "Step Up to The Plate" award should be given to Brandon Gregson for racing back from the NAE4HA meeting in Rochester to satisfy the male chaperone needs of the event.

I'm sure I have left someone out that deserves a pat on the back.  If you know of someone I missed please let us know on the Blog!

Great Job!
Kevin

Ready, Aim...

TCU is offering a shooting sports match open to College, High School, and Jr high age youth.  The match is scheduled for November 21 and 22.  The fee for participation is $5 per member of a team.

This sounds like a fun trip for your 4-H shooting sports teams.  Something out of the norm.

Till next time,
Kevin

google-site-verification: google9858d5d76f28f3af.html

Brother Leo

The Parable of Brother Leo 640.1

A legend tells of a French monastery known throughout Europe for the extraordinary leadership of a man known only as Brother Leo. Several monks began a pilgrimage to visit Brother Leo to learn from him. Almost immediately, they began to bicker about who should do various chores.

On the third day they met another monk going to the monastery, and he joined them. This monk never complained or shirked a duty, and whenever the others would fight over a chore, he would gracefully volunteer and do it himself. By the last day, the others were following his example, and from then on they worked together smoothly.

When they reached the monastery and asked to see Brother Leo, the man who greeted them laughed. “But our brother is among you!” And he pointed to the fellow who had joined them.

Today, many people seek leadership positions, not so much for what they can do for others but for what the position can do for them: status, connections, perks, advantages. They do service as an investment, a way to build an impressive resume.

The parable about Brother Leo teaches another model of leadership, where leaders are preoccupied with serving rather than being followed, with giving rather than getting, with doing rather than demanding. Leadership based on example, not command. This is called servant leadership.

Can you imagine how much better things would be if more politicians, educators, and business executives saw themselves as servant leaders?

Credit goes to Charla Bading for sharing this parable with me, and credit goes to Michael Josephson for posting it on the Character Counts Website.

Jr. Lab Registration to Close

Reminder District 9 4-H Jr Leadership Lab Registration closes today at midnight...  Well not really.  After today the late fee kicks in.

Till next time, Take Care,
Kevin

All Natural May Be Your Ticket

Check out the State 4-H Clothing Guidlines for this year.  The natural fiber catagories now advance to State 4-H Roundup.

You can still double enter the Natural fiber garment. (ex. enter it in Sr Dressy Construction, and enter it again in Senior Wool Constriction).  This change allows natural fiber garments two chances to advance to state...once in their standard category and once again in the natural fiber division.

If this all makes sense to you, you are probably an FCS agent with fashion experience.  If it does not make sense to you,  you will need to spend some time closely reviewing the new State 4-H Fashion Guidelines. I happen to fit in the latter category.

Till next time, Take Care,
Kevin

Lets Play

We often find ourselves leading games in order to drive home an educational message.  As often as not we find ourselves trying to teach teens to lead games.  The website above is developed for youth ministries, but whether we are saving souls or teaching life skills we can still use games to drive home the point.

Take a look at this link to the 7 deadly sins of game leading.  I kinda like the name considering it's a ministry site.

Till next time, take care,
Kevin

District 9 4-H Council Community Service Project

Just to make sure ya'll received the news, the council's community service project is to collect crayola crayons and coloring books for local hospitals. The goal of the council is to collect 75,000 crayons by the foodshow. The plan will then be to divide the crayons up into clusters and have 4-H groups in county's with hospitals that could benefit from this go and take the crayons to the hospitals. We are also accepting new coloring books. The crayons must be in the small boxes and have to be crayola or the hospitals won't accept them. Crayola brand crayons are guarunteed to be non toxic if eaten.


Thanks for ya'lls help

Bill Holcombe

Job Well Done

It is that simple...Job well done!  You did it.  You will do it again.  And I appreciate the work you do everyday with 4-H youth in your count and District 9.

I know you don't hear it enough, so I'm taking this opportunity as we celebrate National 4-H Week to tell you, JOB WELL DONE.

The 4-H program is success because of YOU.

Kevin

Make a List...

4-H Enrollment online is nice but what's the use in a county office if you can't use it to communicate with 4-H families electronically.  If creating email lists using 4-H Connect has eluded you, check out this video.  Derrick Bruton, Extension Specialist 4-H in the East Region will show you how in this 6 min video.

Good Mailing,
Kevin

Do you have spirit... How about community spirit

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program is the United States' largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service. The program was created in 1995 by Prudential in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) to honor middle level and high school students for outstanding service to others at the local, state, and national level.

The program's goals are to applaud young people who already are making a positive difference in their towns and neighborhoods, and to inspire others to think about how they might contribute to their communities. Over the past 14 years, more than 260,000 young Americans have participated in the program, and nearly 90,000 of them have been officially recognized for their volunteer work.

Go to the link above to learn more about this exciting program.  I think you'll find that this program may provide the recognition you are seeking for that special 4-Her.

Take Care,
Kevin

The Seven Deadly Sins of Directing Volunteers

1. To recruit a volunteer for a cause of program in which you do not believe.
2. To worry about the number of volunteers you need to the degree that you sign a peron up even if he or she is not right for the job to be done.
3. To offer volunteers certain opportunities and working conditions and then not deliver.
4. To waste a volunteer's time-ever.
5. To restrict a volunteer's effectiveness by not providing adequate preparation, training, or tools.
6. To ask salaried staff to work as a team with volunteers if you yourself do not have volunteers helping with the responsibilities of your job.
7. To be so concerned about your own job security that you do not stand up and fight for the needs and rights of the volunteers you represent.
   

One Day

One Day 4-H is going to have an awesome State wide 4-H impact.  But don't let the impact of what is going on in your county get lost in the shuffle.  Register your One Day 4-H activities on line by September 30.  You don't have much time, but the process is simple.  Go to the link above and register!!!!!!

A break from Youth Work

I know this is a 4-H Blog, but it's hard not to get excited and want to share when something this cool comes along.  Ranch TV embodies what Extension Education Efforts over the internet should look like.  It is fresh, it's timely, and it is high quality educational material, ready to meet the needs of "education on demand" society.

it's worth your time to visit this site even if you are not a cattle enthusiast.  It will give you some ideas for Extension Education in general. 

Take Care,
Kevin

The ayes have it!!!!

State 4-H Congress has added a pre-congress component that will replace the pre-congress offered by the South Region. 

Based on the highly successful model used by the South Region in 2007 delegates will arrive in Austin a few hours earlier than they did in past.  By arriving early they will participate in a workshop designed to prepare them for the experience to come.

What does this mean for District 9?
- no pre congress
- no additional fees for congress
- based on 2007 success we will not be offering transportation to Texas 4-H Congress

Look for more details as they are released from the State 4-H Office.

Take Care,
Kevin

Bang Bang

The date for the District 9 4-H Shooting Sports Match has been set: April 10, 2009.

For those of you on the ball you will note this is also the date of the Multi-District Horse Judging contest. This just proves you shouldn't shoot and ride..... The shooting sports match will be in Rosenberg, while horse judging will be in College Station. Even though this conflict will probably affect very few 4-hers, please make sure youth in each project are aware of the conflict.

Rules and Guidelines for the District 9 Shooting Sports program will be coming soon from DEA Dale Fritz.

Take Care,
Kevin

Risk Management

As youth educators we incur risk everyday. Facing that risk should not be an obstacle to doing our job. We should manage the risk and take the necessary precautions to protect ourselves and the people we serve. To help you with this, the Extension Spirit committee offers an excellent resources including a video that can be downloaded at http://rm.tamu.edu/

Ease your mind, by taking the time to review this common sense risk management module.

The Inspired Leader Slide Cast

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

The Inspired Leader Slide Cast

View more documents from Matt Church.

Leader College and El Paso youth support

Leader College is this weekend and I hope you are planing to attend, if not teach, at the event. In either case a couple of reminders. Registration begins at 9:00 am and closes at 9:30 am. Everyone that attends (including county and district personnel) must register and pay $15. If you are coming and did not register plan to bring correct change or a check.

By now I'm sure you are aware of the terrible accident that occurred in El Paso involving 5 4-H members. If not, 5 youth were burned badly in an accidental fire at a 4-H food booth fund raiser.

We will be taking a collection at Leader College in support of these families as they work through this tragedy. If your 4-H clubs or county programs are bringing checks, please make them payable to the Texas 4-H Foundation and put "El Paso 4-H youth" in the memo line.

We will facilitate the deposit of the funds after the event. For those of you wishing to contribute individually, I would encourage you to go to the Texas 4-H Foundation Website and make a contribution using "pay pal".

Till next time, Take Care,
Kevin

4-H ers in NEED

There has been a terrible accident involving 4-H ers and a food booth fundraiser in El Paso Tx. 5 children were burned. 3 are in ICU at University Medical Center in Lubbock and 2 are in regular admittance at the El Paso hospital.

Information regarding the particulars of this incident are not clear at this point. What is clear, is that these 4-H families are in need and a call to action is going out state wide! One or more of the injured children are expected to be in the hospital for more than a month. This will undoubtedly cause significant hardship for their families.

As details surface regarding what we can do to assist I will share them through this blog. In the mean time there are a few things we can consider.

Families from ElPasso are displaced and carring for their children in Lubbock. They will be needing lodging and accomidations. Money sent to Lubbock can be spent on what the families need, when they need it.

Money and or gift certificates to restraunts that are in the Lubock area would be of great benifit to these 4-H families.
Please work to inform your 4-H network of this terrible situation.

Please also consider having county contributions ready to present at this weekend's leader coollege.

Our prayers and our contributions are needed.
Kevin

4-H Connect Drop Dead Day

Just a reminder - This Friday, July 31, 2009 is your last opportunity to update enrollment in 4-H Connect for the 2008/2009 4-H year. Monday, August 1, 2009 all 4-H Connect records will be set to inactive!!!!!

This has two very big implications:
1) If you enter the member/group record after Friday, it does not count for the current 4-H year ending.
2) Families will not be able to register for any District or State 4-H Events until their membership is re-activated---Think Leader College.

As always if you have questions or concerns contact me.

Kevin

Things you need to know as we move into July

• Recordbook Judging is at the Harris County Extension Center July 8, 2009. We will start at 9:00 a.m. (Please pass neccessary information along to Volunteers - Communication is not being sent from the District Office)
• Current Recordbook entries vs. Number of Judges equates to 14 books per judge to review. Come ready to settle in and get to work
• Program Planning Conference will be held on July 9, 2009 at Northwest Forest at 9:30 a.m. This is the day we plan the District 4-H Program for next year. It's good to be there.
• Leadership Institute Registration Closes Friday, July 10. Each county can send two reps plus council officers.
• 4-H Connect Enrollment Status will revert to inactive on all 4-H enrollment for 2009 on August 1. What does this mean for you: If you want credit for the enrollment in this past year, they need to be in the system before the end of the month.
• There are three significant contest areas being added to State 4-H Competition in the coming year: Food Challenge, Vet Science Skillathon, Leaders 4 Life Skillathon, and Scientific Discovery Poster Competition. (ok I lied...there are 4 new contests)
• The anticipation is building for "one day 4-H"....Start making a plan for October 10, 2009

As we plan for the new 4-H Year the schedule can become daunting. Keep in mind we will take the events one at a time and as usual we will all make these events high quality learning opportunities for youth.

As you prepare for the coming Program Development Confernce I also want you to be thinking of ways to loosen the schedule in the Spring and in June. This may mean having a contest on a weekday, or pushing back Leadership Lab to the end of June. There may be many other solutions. Together I am confident we can come up with a workable plan and incorporate 4 new contests.
Kevin

Ambition

It is invigorating to read the goals and aspirations of our youth. It reminds us of a time when the sky was the limit. Strange how age and mileage can dull your urge to chase your dreams.

If you need a pick-me-up in the dreams department, take a look at what your 4-Hers are dreaming about.

The following link will take you to a google doc in which Leadership Lab Participants are telling us about their future career aspirations.

It's a refreshing read.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rc9iByrUk72t7VLWk0pVCAw

Leadership Lab....and everything else in June

This is the first of what may turn into many reminders concerning Leadership Lab and everything else we have going during the month of June.

First let me say I would rather be given two brand new events to run, rather than cancel one well established event. June is challenging enough without squeezing in a judging contests.

Here goes my attempt to keep things from slipping by any of us:

District Horse Show:

• All entries are due by May 22.
• If the horse is not validated then the horse can not be entered
• If two children are riding the same horse, then the horse must be entered twice, and the Ground fee must be paid twice
• Entries for the Horse Show will not be confirmed at the District office until after May 22.

Leadership Lab:

• Registration is due May 29
• Officer applications are also due on May 29
• Those running for office will serve as teen leaders and teen leaders will be expected to come to Sam Houston on June 19 to participate in Pre-Leadership Lab
• Chaperoning is imperative in this new format. If you are sending kids you should plan to attend Lab. If you cannot attend then you should make individual arrangements with another CEA to be a point person for your youth.

State Roundup

• Be Flexible!!!!!! The schedules have changed and may change a few more times prior to your event. Check the online schedules frequently and be ready to change your plans
• This will be a great event, but it will not be the same event as we've had in the past.
  
• Wednesday contests will have award ceremonies in various formats and these formats may change based on communication from the Superintendent. All we are guaranteeing is first through third will be announced at the big assembly.

Multi District Judging

• All Multi-District Judging contests will occur on June 12, 2009
• These contests are open to Juniors and Intermediates Only
• Contestants must re-register for the event.
• All fees previously paid for Multi-District Judging will be refunded

Leadership Institute

• Open to two youth from your county in addition to all District Council Officers
• Registration will be $150
• Registration is due July 6, 2009
  
• Location is still not confirmed but Texas State University in San Marcos is under strong consideration

Questions?????
I feel like there must be at least some questions out there. If you have one, please ask it here for everyone's benefit.

For tracking sake I will try to post updates and concerns to this site as they come in....

Summer is definitely upon us.
Kevin

Horses and Leadership

What do horses and leadership have in common...... Both involve events that just opened on 4-H Connect for District 9 4-H. Check it out: The Horse show is available for registration through May 22. Leadership Lab is open through May 29.

Both events have late registration available, but participants wont like the price.

Go to the D9 Web site for promotional brochures and rules.

Assuming I can surmount the technical difficulties we might market Leadership Lab directly to 4-Hers old enough to attend. Let me know what you think.

Kevin

4-H Livestock Ambassador Program

Billy Zanolini, Madison CEA-Ag/NR, and Rodney Finch, Grimes CEA-Ag/NR, provided leadership in establishing the new 4-H Livestock Ambassador Program. The program is designed to teach senior age 4-H youth advanced animal science while expanding their leadership capabilities to assist other 4-H members with the management of their livestock projects.

The program includes a 3-day 4-H Livestock Ambassador Short Course to teach livestock production and management principles and a commitment by the participant to return at least 20 hours of service in helping 4-H members with their livestock projects and teaching animal science at 4-H Club Meetings. The Short Course provides the participants with the necessary tools to educate new 4-H members on the fundamentals of livestock project management and showing.

During 2008, 12 4-H members completed the 4-H Livestock Ambassador Short Course and have begun to return their 20 hours of service. The participants were from Madison, Grimes and Walker Counties.

During 2009, this program will be expanded to include 4-H youth from other counties in District 9. Of course, the program is new to Texas 4-H. So, additional evaluation and research is needed to fully assess the benefits of this program in expanding our outreach to new youth.

Additional information and evaluation results will be posted at a later date. For now, I am asking you to consider this program for your part of District 9.

Dale A. Fritz, Ph.D.

Throw us a BONE!!!!

We need your help. Please review 4-H Connect entries closely before submitting them to the District Level for approval. This year we are finding an unusually high number of silly mistakes in the entries. Things like: Selecting 4 photography categories but only paying for three, or listing the title of the Educational Presentation but not selecting a category in which to compete. When these mistakes are made all we can do is bump the entry back to the 4-Her. This creates a circular phone tag session between the 4-Her, the County Office, and the District Office..... What a mess!

Don't do it for me.... Do it for Earlene!!!!

I almost forgot; All Multi-District Judging Contest are now open for registration

Take Care,
Kevin

Events are Open

Contest season has started, meaning registration is open on 4-H Connect for many of the District Contests: Horse Judging, Photography, Roundup and Shooting Sports.

Many more will be coming online soon.

To make the system work WE NEED YOUR HELP! Please check the entries closely before submitting them. Photography and Roundup are the two with the biggest mistakes. A typical mistake in Roundup entries looks like this:

Educational Presentation Catagory - Housing and the Home Environment
Title of Presentation - Horse Shoer vs. Farrier

Either the title is wrong or the category is wrong, but the only way to correct the mistake at the District Office, is to Call You. These fields are editable by the County Office and corrections can be made prior to submitting it to the District.

Photography entries are more difficult to screen, but you can start by making sure the number of entries the contestant pays for, matches the number of categories they have selected. If these do not match up either make a correction or reject the entry.

Lastly.... Get the word out. Most contest registration has a late registration period, but the penalty is costly.

till next time,
Kevin

Youth Leadership and Life Skills Project in Burleson County

Teaching leadership skills to youth is important as they prepare to govern the future. Appropriate skill development among young people will lead to the ability to guide or direct others on a course of action, influence opinion and behavior, and excel among peers. To address leadership and life skills, Burleson CEAs Amy Ressler and Dusty Tittle implemented the "On the LOT" Program.

The Youth Leadership and Life skills project, commonly referred to as "On the LOT", indicating that our future depends on the Leaders Of Tomorrow, utilized resources to affect leadership development in youth including the "Putting the Pieces Together" curriculum and, the book/workbook from "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens" by Sean Covey. Community leaders served as guest speakers for sessions. Funding was secured for the program through a grant and used to purchase individual copies of the book and an accompanying workbook for each participant.

Twenty youth were accepted into the program and participated in an 8-month course, featuring 7 sessions and a celebration event. Participants were recognized with plaques. A celebration event included a catered dinner sponsored by a local bank. Feedback comments about leadership concepts learned included “Being creative and expressing my ideas, this has taught me to be open about my thoughts” and “The win-win concept will help me lead my 4-H club as president”. Parents also provided feedback including comments such as: “This is a superior program and will benefit all that are involved in it”, “I liked that the speakers were motivating and from a variety of places. So many of these kids hear ‘us’ (parents, teachers, club managers) saying these things, but many times, others can make a bigger impression.”

Due to the positive response, the program will be repeated in 2009 with fine tuning included. The agents will widen the diversity of the participants and include youth not currently enrolled in 4-H.

The type of program has application in all counties in District 9. Give it a try and you will like the results!

4-H and Facebook....Join the Group

Want to know what's happening with State 4-H Roundup in 2009. Join the State 4-H Roundup Facebook group.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=65886540616

This group is open to anyone with a Facebook account. Should prove to be an interesting use of Web 2.0 technology, and a faster way to stay informed.

Be sure and share this with your adult leaders and club managers.

till next time,
Kevin

High Bidders, Inc. Offers Support at Houston Livestock Show

As a 501(c) 3 charity, High Bidders, Inc. is committed to helping deserving youth by purchasing livestock in the low end of the Junior Swine, Lamb, and Steer Auctions at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Also, the group supports the Poultry, School Art, Voc-Agricultural, and Calf Scramble Committees through "pre-buys" and other cash donations.

In an effort to identify the exceptional 4-H youth who will benefit most from their purchases, members of the group known as Barn Walkers canvas the barns at the Livestock Show prior to each auction interviewing 4-H youth, parents, and county agents. Their primary desire is to assist those young people who have experienced and overcame hardship, or have dealt with specials challenges on their road to the Houston Livestock Show. Your assistance is needed in identifying these 4-H youth.

The Barn Walkers will be in the barns on the dates and times listed below and will be identifiable by wearing vests with their logo. Please look for them and if you know of an auction participant who has faced and conquered adversity, let them know.

- Lam and Goat Barn Walk, Wednesday, March 11, 2-4 p.m.
- Steer Barn Walk, Thursday, March 12, 2-4 p.m.
- Swine Barn Walk, Wednesday, March 18, 2-4 p.m.

The one requirement which must be met is that the 4-H member must be selling their livestock project in the Junior Auction. Regrettably, they are unable to assist those who do not make the sale.

Also, if you have a 4-H member who you would like to recommend, please contact the group with his/her name, address, school attending, type of livestock project he or she will be showing, an explanation of his or her circumstances, and your name and address. You can submit this information to Gerald Colca at gerald@geraldcolca.com. The Barn Walkers will do their best to seek them our and the auction representatives will also watch for them at the auction.

This is an excellent opportunity to assist your deserving 4-H members!

Things aren't always what they seem

Tempers are running short this time of year, especially if you are an Agent tasked with chasing kids from one stock show to another. When our tempers run short our judgment comes quick. Maybe this video will help us all to remember that things aren't always what they seem to be:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI1r4x1Rafc

Next time stall space is tight, someone cuts in front of you at check-in, or the show official stalls you outside the barn.....Try and remember this video (there is a whole series of these, if you just need a good laugh)

Till next time,
Kevin

Madison County 4-H Youth Outreach Project

As you know, Madison County is a small rural county in the northern part of District 9 and has a significant minority population. Unfortunately, the minority population is not well represented in the county's 4-H Livestock Program. However, recently interest has been generated in minority youth to exhibit livestock projects at the Madison County Fair and to participate in other 4-H activities. This interest was sparked through visits and presentations by Billy Zanolini, Madison CEA-AG/NR, at local elementary schools and visits to minority churches in Madisonville.

The challenges faced by some minority youth to participate in the 4-H Livestock Program include lack of funds to purchase the initial project, lack of facilities, lack of funds to purchase feed and supplies, and lack of parental support. To address these challenges, Agent Zanolini secured donated livestock (10 lambs, 2 goats and 1 pig) from producers in Texas, financial support from the Madisonville State Bank and the Texas 4-H Friends and Alumni Association, and the use of the Madisonville High School Ag Barn. Additionally, a local feed store is providing feed and supplies at his cost and Madison County 4-H Livestock Ambassadors are assisted the youth with their projects.

Currently, 12 minority youth are enrolled in this outreach project. The youth attend monthly 4-H club meetings, participate in livestock project clinics and showmanship clinics, and care for their donated projects twice daily. The youth will also complete the Quality Counts curriculum and exhibit their livestock at the Madison County Fair in March. Funds earned from the sale of projects will be invested in future livestock projects.

The goal for this project is to teach the youth livestock management skills, responsibility, financial management, and sportsmanship. Of course our goals are to produce productive and responsible youth and expand our 4-H outreach in Madison County. The outcomes of this project will be determined through an evaluation later in 2009.

This type of project has application in all counties in District 9. Give it a try and see the difference you can make in the lives of our youth!

Dale A. Fritz, DEA

Time to Blow Your Horn

If you don't BLOW YOUR HORN who will. Your district 4-H Association Leadership took the time to explore and share with you award opportunities prior to the Christmas break. We knew then that the award applications would hit us smack in the middle of "Stock Show Season", and here they are. We are all busy, but please take the time to invest in yourself, and submit an award application to gain recognition for the "over the top" programs you have conducted!

You can get started by going to www.nae4HA.org. Here you will find last years award program, but the information will be close enough to get you on the right track for '09, and if you wait any longer the mid March deadline will catch you off guard.

Till next time,
Kevin

Back to the BLOG

It's been over a month since I've posted a BLOG and that's too long!

This time of year information is at a premium and the faster you can digest it the better. With Major and Local stock shows in action there's no time to diddle.

Three Points of Major interest.

• If you have a semi active 4-H Horse Program, the CEA Horse News Letter is a "Must Read". Make the time. In the newsletter you'll find a letter for leaders that is ready for you to share with your adult leaders. (no better way to save time, than to have someone else write your letters).
• The District Consumer Decision Making contest will be run largely the same in '09 with one exception. There will not be an over arching story line to support the class scenarios. If you are foggy on what I'm referring to, post a response to this blog and somebody will clear the water.
• As noted in point number one, having someone else write the letter can save you time. This also applies to your monthly newsletter. I'm not suggesting you quit writing the newsletter but I am foreshadowing future State 4-H Efforts. Beginning in February the State 4-H Office will launch a newsletter for CEA's . This newsletter will be designed with "cut and paste" in mind. When you see something your people need to know, simply cut it out and put it in your newsletter! How's that for service?

With the new CEA newsletter in mind, if there are specific subjects you would like covered, share them with me. I'll make sure an appropriate author has the heads up.

Till next blog, take care,
Kevin