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